The Secret Agent Rules and Order Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)

Quote #7

The perfect anarchist was not recognized as a fellow creature by Chief Inspector Heat. He was impossible—a mad dog to be left alone. Not that the Chief Inspector was afraid of him; on the contrary, he meant to have him some day. But not yet: he meant to get hold of him in his own time, properly and effectively, according to the rules of the game. (6.54)

Again, we get a sense that Conrad's exploring how the human mind tries to deal with things that aren't quite normal. Chief Inspector Heat is a good cop who enjoys his job because there are certain "rules to the game." But the Professor isn't after money or any of the stuff that criminals usually want. He can't be bought off with money or even fame. He wants the social order to collapse, partly because of his pride, and maybe even because he's really bored. Heat knows the Professor wants him to step outside the rules of the game; but Heat won't take the bait. He believes in the rule of law, and plans on one day arresting the Professor in the proper way. Then again, he might just be terrified of the little dude.

Quote #8

"[Verloc] would not be much good to anybody but myself. One has got to know a good deal beforehand to make use of a man like that. I can understand that sort of hint he can give. And when I want a hint he can generally furnish it to me." (6.102)

Heat reveals to the Assistant Commissioner that for years, he's been using Verloc as his personal Wikipedia of secret information. The Assistant Commissioner thinks it would've been better to do things by the book and bring Verloc in as an official informer. But Heat feels he can do his job much better by bending the rules a little. In this sense, his unwavering belief in rules seems to take a little vacation, since he feels like he's got the right to do whatever it takes to get results. In this case, Conrad might be pointing out Heat's hypocrisy, or might actually be siding with Heats point of view.

Quote #9

"I must do my work in my own way," declared the Chief Inspector. "When it comes to that I would deal with the devil himself, and take the consequences. There are things not fit for everybody to know." (6.110)

Here's how committed Heat is to getting the results he wants. In fact, he's totally willing to send Michaelis to jail for a crime he had nothing to do with, just for the sake of preserving the status quo. For Heat, the truth doesn't even matter—what matters is preserving the social order and the rules that govern it, which means meeting people's expectations and giving the simplest possible answers to problems whenever you can.