The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (John Le Carre)

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1. What is the genre?

Global — Thriller > Espionage

Secondary — Worldview > Disillusionment

2. What are the conventions and obligatory scenes for the genre?

Conventions

MacGuffin (This is the Villain’s Object of Desire, what he or she wants): The true villain in this story is Control and the British Secret Service. But this is not fully revealed until the proxy villain – Mundt, is discovered to be the BSS’s secret agent. Thus, the MacGuffin, is to protect Mundt and his pipeline of intel, while appearing to sanction the assassination of Mundt.

Investigative Red Herrings (seemingly revelatory false clues that mislead the Protagonist): Alec Leamas. Control appears to want to check Alec’s suitability for one more assignment before a comfortable retirement. But the real agenda is whether Alec is a suitable pawn in an undisclosed plan. Subsequent actions by Control are to support Alec’s deceit of others in the BSS e.g. Alec to portray he had been ‘treated harshly’. This serves to make Control’s real agenda impenetrable and to create a record of conduct that would later work in Mundt’s favour. Also, the use of agents Ashe, Kiever and Peters, each with different levels of authority to introduce Alec to Fiedler. Alec’s lover (Liz Gold) was also duped by her ‘invitation’ to join an ‘exchange between the SUP and GDR in East Germany with the real agenda of helping seal Fiedler’s fate.

Making it Personal (The Villain needs the Hero to get the MacGuffin and thus must victimize the Hero to get what he or she wants): Control used Alec to convince Mundt’s prosecutor (Fiedler) that Alec was genuinely mistaken about the impossibility of Alec’s Berlin office being penetrated without his knowledge. This ultimately resulted in Fiedler’s determination to build a case against Mundt that was doomed and would result in Fiedler’s execution and Alec’s release as a pawn in the plot.

Clock (There is a limited time for the Hero to act; failing to act burns precious time): This was represented by a race in time between Fiedler and Mundt to get the upper hand in their life or death struggle. Each needed to prove the other was a traitor and each had a game-plan to do so. That plan was ultimately played out in the Tribunal directed by the Praesidium. Once the plans were put into place, the clock counted down toward a life/death consequence.

Obligatory Scenes

An Inciting Crime indicative of a master Villain. There must be victims: Control invites Alec to take down his nemesis Mundt, responsible for killing several British agents, including Alec’s best agent Karl Riemeck.

Speech in Praise of the Villain: speech by a character, or a revelation, that praises the cunning/brilliance of the villain:

Fiedler warns that while he’s away building the case against Mundt, Alec will need to be careful; that Mundt tends to shoot first and ask questions later and someone who had killed suspects before Fiedler could get anything useful out of them. When Mundt was in London, ‘he killed a couple of people and nearly killed Smiley.’ Fidler says Mundt told him that ‘thistles needed to be cut down before they flower.’ Plus, early in the story, there are revelations about how dangerous and cunning Mundt is – in the beginning hook, inciting incident scene.

The Hero/Protagonist becomes the Victim. A scene reveals that the Villain makes his crimes personal to the Hero and the Hero becomes the primary Victim: First, he is manipulated to accept that he must look like a harshly treated victim of the BSS. Alec does this willingly and serves jail time for assault. While believing he knows what he is doing, he is ‘unconscious’ (on the global value of life and death) of what is really behind that deceit. He is first an unknowing victim and becomes a conscious victim when, in an airport newspaper store, he sees an English newspaper confirming what Peters had told him: that the British authorities are “watching the ports” and that Control has betrayed him. ‘For the first time, Alec is frightened.’

The Hero at the Mercy of the Villain. The core event of the Thriller, the All is Lost Moment when the Hero unleashes his or her gift: In chapter 16, Alec realizes his status has changed from Fiedler’s paid informant to Mundt’s prisoner. He is badly beaten after he assaults a guard. Mundt informs him that he will be a witness in Fielder’s trial and will then be put on trial himself, ‘if necessary, for murder.’

False Ending (there must be two endings): In Mundt’s trial for being an enemy of the state, Mundt triumphs and his prosecutor Fiedler becomes the victim of a conspiracy between Mundt and Control. As a condition of the agreement between Mundt and Control, Alec is spared by Mundt. However, as Alec and his lover Liz Gold (a dispensable pawn) are directed to a place at the wall from which they will escape, Liz is shot and killed as she follows Alec up the wall. Despite being urged to jump over, he chooses to climb back down on the East German side and dies with Liz.

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3. What is the point of view?

Third person omniscient with narrator inferring various character thoughts.

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4. What are the objects of desire?

External/Conscious: Kill his nemesis, Mundt, and avenge the lives of agents lost at Mundt’s hands.

Internal/Subconscious: Redemption for the failure to protect those in service of the country’s security.

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5. What is the controlling idea / theme?

When a secret service agent realizes his life no longer has authentic purpose and value, he chooses death over subservience to a corrupt regime.

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6. What is the beginning hook, middle build and ending payoff?

Beginning Hook: When Alec Leamas, head of the Berlin outpost of the British Secret Service, (‘The Circus”) accepts Control’s invitation to avenge the murder of his best field agent, he executes a deceit to publicly show he has become a violent alcoholic, no longer capable of his former work. But on his release from prison, he meets Liz Gold (a SUP party member) who becomes his lover and nurses him through a serious illness. After meeting Control, Alec must decide whether to continue with the original plan and then come in from the cold, or to purse his relationship with Liz. He tells Control he will look after Liz when he returns and he requests all records of Liz be removed.

Middle Build: After several days of interrogation in Holland, Alec is deceived into traveling to East Berlin to be interrogated by Mundt’s second in command, Fiedler. But while there, Fiedler is arrested, and Alec must decide whether to comply with Mundt’s requirement to testify against Fieldler or attempt to escape and risk torture and death. He attempts to escape and is hospitalized after a beating. In hospital Alec is told by Fiedler that Mundt has been arrested and Alec is content that Fiedler is now an ally.

Ending Payoff: After Mundt’s trial results in his release and Fiedler’s arrest, Mundt offers and directs Alec’s and Liz’s escape to the wall. Doubting Mundt’s veracity, Alec must decide whether to go along with the plan or risk both their lives by not cooperating and having no support. He accepts the drive to the wall. When Alec tries to pull Liz over the wall, she is shot, and an English voice exhorts Alec to jump down the west side. But Alec, completely disillusioned by being used by Control and bereft at the loss of his lover, climbs back down and rejoins Liz. After some hesitation by guards, he is also shot.

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