The Secret Agent Themes

It probably doesn't seem like the narrator shows a whole lot of compassion to the characters in this book, but compassion is definitely an important theme in The Secret Agent. It's especially thro...

The theme of devotion pops up mostly in two characters: Winnie Verloc and her mother. Both these women show a very deep devotion to Stevie, but its important not to confuse their loyalty with Stevi...

Its probably not much of a shocker to find out that a book called The Secret Agent contains a bunch of lies and deceit. In the style of James Cameron's True Lies, Verloc keeps his secret agent stat...

Conrad explores the theme of pride in this book, especially through the Professor. In fact, calling it "pride" might even be the understatement of the century. The Professor is a completely insane...

Conrad is totally obsessed with physical appearances in The Secret Agent, and in general, his descriptions of peoples appearances seem to have two main effects: 1) Give Conrad a chance to really sh...

Conrad isn't impressed with snooty upper-class people, and he likes to satirize them whenever he gets a chance. Society and class is also a dominant theme in The Secret Agent because its exactly wh...

"Rules and Order!" is the battle cry of pretty much every character in The Secret Agent that isn't a political radical. It's also the biggest reason for why there should be different social classes...