Mother Night

Campbell doesn’t tell his wife Helga that he is a secret American agent, though he doubts it would have affected her feelings for him. Helga thinks Campbell believes the things he says on the radio, things that bring them both immense popularity within Nazi Germany. He longingly recalls their passionate intimacy and suggests that they comprise a “nation of two” (42), and when Helga is lost and presumed dead during a trip to entertain Nazi forces in Crimea, Campbell considers himself a stateless person once again.

Campbell’s parents die before the end of the war, and Campbell suspects they died of broken hearts due to his wartime activities. Nevertheless, they leave him a sizable inheritance, and Campbell is able to live frugally off the interest in Greenwich village without working. He lives in seclusion for 13 years, with most of his possessions coming from a war surplus store. One night, he buys a wood carving kit and, struck by an inadvertent inspiration, carves his broom handle into a set of chess pieces. Seized by a need to show someone his work, Campbell goes to his downstairs neighbor to incite a game. The neighbor turns out to be a secret Russian agent operating in the United States, though he maintains his cover with Campbell for years, introducing himself as