Anarchism, Terrorism, and Espionage in The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad

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Analysis Essay: The Secret Agent
The Secret Agent is a simple text by Joseph Conrad. The story revolves around the life of Mr. Anton Verloc who works as a spy for a country. The main themes in this text are anarchism, terrorism, and espionage. The story starts by featuring the life of Adolf Verloc who is a businessman with a shop selling pornographic materials, bric-a-brac, and contraceptives. Verloc lives with his family: Whinnie, his wife; Mother-in-law, brother-in-law (Stevie). Verloc also has friends who are considered anarchists and always watched by the government. With the novel written at a time when terrorism was increasing, writing on the theme of terrorism was a successful element of the novel. Conrad uses the literary element of symbolism to show how Verloc, the main character, manages his different circles and the results every time they intertwine.
The novel written by Conrad not only aligns with the happenings of its time but also relates with issues in the contemporary society. Currently, terrorism is on the rise and this is the reason writing on it makes it more relevant. To show that anarchism and terrorism are central to the plot of the story, Verloc is hired by an agency to orchestrate terrorism activities. The agency is to decide what and where needs to bombed and then Verloc is directed to work on it. To help in his mission, Verloc associates with people who are involved in terrorism in a certain way. According to Panichas, all Verloc’s friends are interested in anarchistic political revolution and thus are a good company for Verloc since they will help him accomplish his mission with ease (3).
Since the novel was written when terrorism was increasing, it made sense then and still does to date. It was a time when there are a number of dynamite attacks in the US and Europe. In addition, there were numerous assassinations of country’s presidents. In order to prove his theme of terrorism, Conrad is effective in using symbolism. As explained by Panichas, one of the major ways in which symbolism is evident is through circles (4). In the initial stages of the novel, the importance of circles is demonstrated. This is by having characters who are lost in trivial pursuits of happiness and peace through Stevie. For the case of Stevie, his spare time is “occupied by drawing circles with a compass and pencil on a piece of paper. He applied himself to that pastime with great industry” (Conrad 8). Even though at this point it is not clear what the relationship Stevie’s aspirations have with other characters, there is a clear symbolic process in which one task is as mundane as the rest. In this case, Conrad is successful in metaphorically developing different events in the novel as cyclical circles of chaos. This is because as the opposing factions stand, the society experiences peace, solidarity, and order. However, with the factions coming together, there is chaos.
The novel shows that Verloc is in a number of social circles. He starts as a double agent working for the Russian embassy and thus spying on anarchists while on the other hand, he maintains a covert small business. In addition, Verloc works with two other opposing circles; the police and a...