The Secret Agent

“You—a member of a starving proletariat—never!”

Vladimir points out the disconnect between Verloc’s status and his supposed ideology. Verloc, Vladimir mockingly notes, is large-bodied and indolent, even though he is a supposed defender of the starving working class. Vladimir dismisses the entire anarchist movement in this manner, framing Verloc as an embodiment of the hypocritical and vapid revolutionary ideals held by the anarchists.

“The demonstration must be against learning—science.”

Vladimir wants to target science rather than any other institution. He is an inherently reactionary figure, who wishes to preserve the status quo. Anarchism is a threat to this, and science represents the cutting edge of the future. By attacking science, he can attack a beloved representation of the potential future in the minds of the public and turn opinion against change.

“Thus disclosed the innocent Stevie, seated very good and quiet at a deal table, drawing circles, circles, circles.”

Stevie is often dismissed by the other characters due to his disability. His circles, however, suggest that he has a profundity that is disregarded by the majority of people. Stevie’s ability to imagine and create intricate patterns of circles is an artistic extension of the anarchists’ attempts to describe the world around them. These interlocking systems of power and control are, in effect, institutional versions of Stevie’s circles.

“I had to take the carving knife from the boy.”

Winnie mentions to her husband that she needed to confiscate the carving knife from her brother. In an example of ironic foreshadowing, she does not trust Stevie to use the knife without hurting himself. Later in the novel, Winnie will use the same carving knife to kill Verloc for allowing Stevie to be hurt. The next time that Winnie takes the knife, she will do so to cause—rather than to prevent—bloodshed.

“A really intelligent detonator.”

The Professor struggles to connect with the rest of humanity, though he is too arrogant to acknowledge his own alienation. Instead, he views individuals as components in his beloved bombs. A fellow anarchist is, to him, little more than a very “intelligent detonator,” a tool to be wielded in service of his political goals rather than a person with agency of their own.

“The system’s worked perfectly.”

The Professor talks to Ossipon about the bomb attack in Greenwich. By all accounts, Ossipon notes, the bomber died in a misfire of the bomb due to a tragic accident. The Professor dismisses this idea, however. He is proud of his bomb. That it explodes suggests that his bomb did its job. The system worked perfectly, only to be failed by human error. This is reflective of society itself, which he feels is a good system ruined by the presence of other people.

“You may be sure our side will win in the end.”

Heat confronts the Professor with a determined attitude. He insists that his side—the side of institutional and traditional structures of power—will emerge victorious. In materialistic terms, Heat and the Professor have much in common. They are both members of the proletariat who are given their orders by the capitalists in power. They cannot see their unity, however, which is why their relationship to ideology is undermined by their own lack of understanding of their commonalities.

“She was not an exploiting capitalist herself.”

Michaelis’s wealthy benefactor does not consider herself to be an “exploiting capitalist.” Her role in the novel speaks to a world beyond the comprehension of the individual anarchists, in which the truly wealthy aristocrats treat revolutionary members of the proletariat as trivial curiosities. She does not consider herself to be an exploitative capitalist because she does not accept such definitions of wealth and power. She considers herself external to Exploitation Due to Unequal Power Structures, granted this privilege due to her immense fortune.

“We never cease to be ourselves.”

The Assistant Commissioner views himself as a born detective, but his current role does not allow him to often exercise his favored skills. He has taken up his current role to please his wife, so he relishes the chance to play the detective. This part of him endures, as he never ceases to be himself. He is forced to conform to societies expectations, though his true self never goes away.

“However, this is an imperfect world.”

In his conversation with the Sir Ethelred, the Assistant Commissioner outlines his plan for dealing with the anarchist plot. In a perfect world, he would not use secret agents. Since they live in an imperfect world, however, he will take advantage of whatever tools are at his disposal. Notably, the anarchists would agree with him that the world is not perfect and that underhand tactics may be necessary. Both sides of the divide acknowledge the imperfect nature of society and task themselves with doing whatever is necessary to resolve this imperfection.

“But all these people were as denationalized as the dishes set before them.”

The Assistant Commissioner dines in an Italian restaurant. Though the restaurant is supposedly dedicated to a single ethnic cuisine, the Assistant Commissioner notes the way in which the food denationalizes people. They are united by their love and need for food; Italian food is served in an English restaurant to English diners, removing any pretense of Italianism and breaking down the boundaries between cultures. The word “denationalized” has a double meaning here; since this line follows the discussion of Sir Ethelred’s plans to nationalize the fishing industry in Britain, Conrad also presents the diners and their dishes as symbols of capitalism and private ownership.

“Weren’t you made comfortable enough here?”

As Winne escorts her mother into the charity home, she asks her a series of questions. She asks whether her mother was not comfortable enough in the Verloc home, that she felt the need to go to a charity venture to help. This subtext is that this question is directed to Verloc, who has made England his home and who has built a comfortable life. Winnie, dedicated to not looking too deeply into anything, might wonder why such a man would be interested in challenging the system that grants him a comfortable lifestyle.

“You could do anything with that boy, Adolf.”

In advertently, Winnie plants an idea in her husband’s mind which will later cause her great pain. To this point, Verloc has barely acknowledged Stevie’s existence. To him, Stevie is as interesting as the furniture which his wife brought with her to the marriage. Through her comment, however, he starts to see Stevie in a new light. He can “do anything” with Stevie (135), he realizes. This realization will lead to the radicalization of Stevie, who will die in a bomb blast which he carries out because of Verloc.

“We ain’t downtrodden slaves here.”

When Heat comes to question Verloc, he finds Winnie instead. Whereas Verloc and his anarchist friends speak the language of revolution, the shallow Winnie pointedly stands up for the family’s economic situation. Unlike the revolutionaries’ talk of the “downtrodden” proletariat, Winnie is proud of the life that she has made for her family. This shows the fundamental difference between herself and her husband, as Winnie believes that the family is an example of working-class success rather than working-class suffering.

“The Assistant Commissioner, driven rapidly in a hansom from the neighborhood of Soho in the direction of Westminster, got out at the very center of the Empire on which the sun never sets.”

The Assistant Commissioner arrives at Westminster Palace, mentally framing the building as the heart of the British Empire. This metal categorization serves as a reminder of the broader world beyond the city of London in which the novel is set. The Assistant Commissioner, a former colonial administrator, imbues his actions with a sense of imperialism. He is defending a huge, dominant empire against threats, just as he was in the colonies. The violence of the colonies is returning home to Britain.

“Only you look at Europe from its other end.”

Vladimir works for an unnamed foreign embassy in London. The unnamed country may be Russia, but this is never specified. When the Assistant Commissioner confronts Vladimir, however, he at least gives some hint of the geographic position of Vladimir’s country. The country is at the other end of Europe, he says, looking at events from a very different perspective. Their goals and ambitions are not different (they both seek to preserve the status quo and its institutions), but their perspective is influenced by their country of origin. They can never truly be allies in their own minds, even if they are theoretically on the same side.

“The unexpected march of events had converted him to the doctrine of fatalism.”

Verloc is regarded by many people as a radical anarchist. In reality, his ideology is fluid and pragmatic. His views are influenced by current events more than anything else, such as his newfound belief in fatalism. He opts for fatalism rather than take responsibility for his actions, allowing him to give some intellectual justification for his cowardice. Rather than having any fixed beliefs, he adopts whatever soothes his own ego.

“Nothing can equal the everlasting discretion of death.”

Verloc regrets Stevie’s death, but not from a particularly emotional point of view. The death is lamentable, particularly because Winnie will be upset, but Verloc is able to see the upside. Since Stevie is dead, he will never be able to reveal Verloc’s role in his death. Other than the emotional annoyances and the early detonation of the bomb, Verloc can consider Stevie’s early demise to be a positive. That he can do this illustrates how little Stevie really meant to Verloc. This comment also suggests that the increased use of the bomb has led to an undervaluation of human life.

“The consolations administered to a small and badly scared creature by another creature nearly as small but not quite so badly scared.”

Winnie and Stevie are bonded together by their shared experience of abuse. Winnie, the older sibling, was as small and as vulnerable as Stevie. They were both subjected to abuse from their father. Since she was not quite as scared, as she was a little older, Winnie feels duty-bound to protect Stevie. This sentiment explains her relationship with Verloc; everything she does is to protect her brother from the memory of their abusive father.

“The drop given was fourteen feet.”

After she kills Verloc, Winnie is suddenly filled with concern for the consequences of her actions. She is not avidly engaged with the news, but fragments of articles appear from the deep recesses of her mind, in which she recalls the details of a hanging. These memories form a montage, an emerging modernist literary technique aligned with collage which reflects the fragmentation of modern life. She repeats this like a mantra, no longer able to forget or ignore the information that once disappeared so easily into her subconsciousness. The murder has forced Winnie to confront reality.

“These savings. The money!”

The other anarchists think about Ossipon as an ideologue. He is a fervent reader and a follower of whatever fashionable theory he has heard most recently. When he finds Winnie in the street, however, he returns to a more fundamental urge. He is possessed by greed, abandoning any semblance of loyalty or ideology in the hope that he may lay his hands on Verloc’s money. Faced with an actual decision, Ossipon shows that he is much more motivated by traditional greed than any fashionable ideology.

“I’ll slave for you. I’ll love you.”

Events in Winnie’s life are spinning beyond her control. She suddenly finds herself with no husband or brother, as well as no need to take care of her mother. She is free from obligations, yet she also has no prospects and she fears being arrested. In her desperation, she turns to a more direct version of her marriage. She married Verloc to provide for her family. In her moment of panic, she makes an equivalent promise to Ossipon. She will exchange love for protection, a more explicitly stated version of the promise which underpinned her marriage. The use of the word “slave” is a bleak representation of the position of working-class women who perform labor for husbands with no pay.

“An impenetrable mystery seems destined to hang for ever over this act of madness or despair.”

Ossipon reads a newspaper article and a single line sticks in his mind. He is haunted by the article, which implies that Winnie died by suicide after he abandoned her. The mysterious act, however, is not so mysterious to Ossipon. He is haunted by his role in her death but unable to come clean and tell the world what he did. The mystery of her death serves as a constant reminder of his cowardice: He got exactly what he wanted, yet this victory only reminds him of his own flaws.