The Paris Agent

The motif of history emphasizes the theme of Sacrifices Made by Wartime Operatives and The Secrets of War. As Noah struggles to understand his past and dig through considerable trauma, he must confront how the past has shaped the present. For Theo, history is tied to identity; he views history as inextricably tied to the present self. He would advocate for “nature” in a “nature vs. nurture” debate. As an adopted son, Theo is driven by the desire to understand his lost family history. As the war veterans consider their own histories, they admit that they are not proud of all their past actions, and this dynamic is explored on both an individual and an institutional level. In real life, the SOE received criticism for establishing precedents that were later used by terrorist organizations during wartime. While Noah and Remy are both afraid to confront the truths of their past, they accept that their versions of history are not the only ones that exist, and by hearing the accounts of other operatives and reconciling their notion of truth, they realize that there are multiple ways of processing and recording the same event.