John Le Carre, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
Plot Summary, Study Guide and Questions
While background knowledge is not essential, it helps to have some idea of what the Cold War was, and the role played by espionage in it. The world of Le Carre's novel is a fairly accurate rendition of many of the aspects of Cold War spying. Sufficient background can be gained by watching again the first episode of "The Spying Game" (ABC TV), and perhaps checking the entries under "Cold War" and "Espionage" in any reputable encyclopedia. I have tried the Web for information on these topics, but as usual books are better!!
Essential points about Cold War & Espionage:
* The Soviet Union had a network of spies and informers before the war, mainly to aid in the suppression of "counter-revolution".
* During WWII the Allies developed sophisticated espionage techniques and organisations to fight the wars against Germany and Japan. These included: code-breaking operations, dropping agents behind enemy lines (and the technology to support them), detecting enemy agents at home.
* Ideological opposition between West and Eastern Bloc led to the "Iron Curtain"; the Berlin crisis; the Cuban Missile crisis, struggle against Communism in Europe (Greek Civil War); the Korean War; Malayan Emergency, plus an ongoing "covert" espionage war carried on between countries supposedly at peace. As a result the espionage agencies (C.I.A, MI5, MI6) set up during the war continued operating, with the new targets being the Eastern Bloc countries. The old NKVD in Russia became the KGB, and the various other Eastern Bloc countries also set up their own intelligence agencies.
* The objective was to obtain information - which COULD be used in case real war ever broke out, or to maintain a technological edge in weaponry, or to promote diplomatic and political objectives, and frustrate the other side. There was an element, too, of "game-playing" - you have to wonder how much of what went on was really necessary, from a strategic or diplomatic point of view.
The idea of "Spying" has passed into the popular imagination and so novels and films about espionage have always been best sellers - the James Bond stories, Grahame Greene's novels, and the "Spy Thrillers" of John Le Carre and Len Deighton all exploit people's fascination with the world of spies.
The Spying Game and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold
One of the ways the novel arouses the reader's interest is by taking the reader into the world of Cold War spies and spying. Examples of this include:
* Tradecraft - the techniques of espionageInstances in Spy include:
- The networks of agents and their controllers; "safe houses". (Chapters I & II)
- Ways of obtaining information (the "Minox" camera Leamas' agent Karl uses).
- The "dead letter drop" (where the information is passed along the line).
- The use of false identities - passports.
- Arrangements for payment of agents (usually complex, e.g. "Rolling Stone").
- The "approach" (Ashe cannot simply ask Leamas whether he'd like to defect. Ashe has to be able to back out, say it was all a misunderstanding. - see Chapter VI)
- Losing a tail. (Leamas must assume that another agent - not Ashe - will follow him to see where he goes after the initial meeting). He must "lose" this "tail" - follow his complicated route through London to the pre-arranged "pick up point" - by this stage he is sure he is no longer being followed.
- Training, mental and physical toughness (Leamas asks for some time in the "house" before he goes on operation).
- Use of pre-arranged signals (Peters and Leamas being picked up in Berlin after the flight from Holland)
Many of these things simply happen in the novel - Le Carre's technique is to just describe the actions and to leave the reader to figure out what is going on and why - this is half the fun.
* The Set-Ups- The different roles within an espionage organisation - from "Control", to the operatives "in the field" (Leamas), to the agents "on the ground"- the bureaucracy of the organisation (they have typists and secretaries and offices and files and documents - a "banking" section.) The Set-Up is on one level ridiculously familiar and trivial, yet sinister and menacing. (Behind "Control" is the shadowy figure of George Smiley).- Only the people at the very top know everything - this is to safeguard in case an agent or operative is caught - you cannot confess what you don't know. (This fact produces a large element of the suspense and surprise in the novel, as even Leamas is unaware of the operation's true nature.)
* The Individuals- The novel takes us into the world of amateurs, (Ashe), semi-professionals (Kiever), field operatives like Leamas and Peters (Leamas likes Peters because he too has been "on the run"), counter-intelligence officers (Peters, Fiedler), defectors, spymasters and double agents. There is distrust and suspicion between the different levels - even on the same side - compare Leamas' attitudes to Ashe, Kiever and Control, and his attitude to Fiedler and Peters. At the highest level these people lack all morality - are completely ruthless and cynical - (Control; Mundt).
* The Setting- The period immediately after WWII - a fairly harsh and bleak time in both England and Europe (rationing, shortages). Note the description of the Checkpoint in Ch I, the wall in the last chapter - a world of ruins, searchlights, wastelands.- The spy needs to blend in with his world - Leamas' life in London after he returns from Berlin - it is all a deception but still dreadfully squalid and depressing. If this is the reality is it worth defending???
The Craft of the Novel - the writer's techniques:
The basic method of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is for Le Carre simply to describe what happens, from Alec Leamas' point of view. All the way through the novel we are kept very close to the surface action - what is done and said. We are very rarely told why anything is happening, or what anyone's motive is for saying anything. This technique maximises the element of mystery and keeps the reader curious to the very end - we have to keep reading. When the novel reaches its climax and Leamas finally understands "the whole ghastly trick" we are not taken aside and told what that is - we have to work out for ourselves what Leamas suddenly "understands". When we do so, its impact is far greater than if we had been told.When we realise why Liz has to die at the end of the novel, when Leamas is given the chance to escape, we are even more sickened at the the treachery and ruthlessness of the whole business than if we had been given an explanation. There is always the possibilty, too, that we haven't completely worked it out - that things remain unexplained. (The more times you read the novel, the more of it will make sense to you). Why are Ashe and Kiever picked up? How does Fiedler know about Liz -isn't she part of the plan to discredit Fiedler and protect Mundt? Is Mundt's being a "double agent" really the final explanation of everything? Might he not be a "triple" - or perhaps even a "lone wolf", betraying either side when it suits him?- The other techniques are part of every novelist's craft - how he builds the action, establishes the characters and the setting, and underlines the key themes.
The action of the novel is easy to follow, and takes clearly defined stages -
1. A fast paced and suspenseful beginning:- the Checkpoint scene and Karl's death - its imlications for Leamas.
2. A slow build up:- Leamas' period of decline in London, his brief relationship with Liz and time in prison. - Scenes (remembered in Leamas' mind) with Control and Smiley - indicating that this is all a front - for what??
3. The Rising Action:- Leamas being "picked up" by Ashe.- Reporting back to Control.- Being taken over by Kiever.- The other side "taking the bait" and Leamas agreeing to "defect".- The interrogation by Peters.
4. Unexpected Development:- Leamas' disappearance being reported ("Control had done it")- Going "behind the Iron Curtain"
5. The Major Plot Development:- The interrogation by Fiedler.- Crucial details of "Rolling Stone", the arrangements for payment, handling of the files, Leamas' insisting that he "would have known" if there had been another highly placed spy in the Abteilung, all leading to:- Fiedler's "taking the bait" - the letters to the banks - the "proof" that Mundt is a double agent.
6. The Twist:- Leamas and Fiedler's arrest (the pace of the action really speeds up here)
7. The Reverse Twist:- Mundt's arrest
8. Action and Counter Action:- Mundt's "Trial" - Fiedler's speech; Liz as witness; the reversal of Fiedler's and Leamas' fortunes as Mundt's defender uses Liz to "prove" that Leamas was a plant. This leads to:
9. Recognition; Climax; Denouement; Finale:- Leamas finally realises that the plan was never to make Mundt look like a traitor - it is in fact a "double-double cross" - designed to protect him, and destroy Fiedler, because Mundt was about to be "blown" by Fiedler. In this plan, Leamas realises, he is expendable and so is Liz. He has never been told the whole truth. He understands why it had to happen but is sickened by the whole thing. Mundt arranges an "escape" for Leamas and Liz. In the car Leamas tells Liz everything (paralleling what Karl had done earlier with Elvira). In a repeat of the first scene they attempt to cross to the other side. Liz is shot because she knows too much. Leamas deliberately chooses suicide.
John le Carre, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Questions for Further Study
"This is not just a great spy novel, but one of the
masterpieces of modern fiction." Do you agree
Explain the meaning of the title.
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