Special Sub-Topic: The Secret Agent Click Here To Play: The Secret Agent

Who wrote 'The Secret Agent'?

Joseph Conrad. Joseph Conrad is actually Polish. English was his third language and yet he wrote in it - pretty impressive if you ask me.

When was 'The Secret Agent' written?

1907.

What is the name of the presumed secret agent of the novel?

Verloc. If you ask me though, Verloc isn't a very 'secret' secret agent, and I think that time is the true secret agent as it is this that finally wins out.

Who is described as the 'ticket-of-leave apostle'?

Michaelis.

Who is searching for the perfect detonator and carries a personal bomb on him as a weapon should he be caught?

The Professor.

What does Winnie symbolically leave behind when she commits suicide?

Wedding ring. The wedding ring is representative of eternity and this is why it is symbolic that she leaves it behind her.

What is it that Stevie draws?

Circles. Circles, again, representative of eternity. He confuses them into tangles, and this reveals the anarchic nature of his character, linking him with subjective time, that is to say, time that is experienced upon a personal level.

What is the name of the Chief Inspector?

Heat. Verloc is working for the anarchists and for Heat too, as an informer.

What is Verloc's symbol?

Triangle. He is set up in complete contrast to Stevie.

Who is it that says 'everything decays, wears out in this world'?

Winnie Verloc's Mother & Winnie Verloc's mum & Winnie's Mum & Winnie's mother. It is interesting that she is nearly the only character that survives.