Literary London: The London Spy - Coursework Example

Question Three “There are certain things I like in this book: for example the predicament of the agent with scruples” (Graham Greene, ‘Introduction’ to The Confidential Agent [1939] (London: Vintage, 2002), p. x. London Spy was a series of fictional novels written in the 1900 centaury. These novels depicted different stories based on agents and organizations dealing with private investigations. There were a series written on monthly basis and the story was written consecutively for 18 Months. It was the time of geographical changes; one world was taking over the other based on their powers of assets and forces. The time was famous with business and trade activities; it was a time when people were exploring the world and things in between. Boarder on the map was being changed, the trade was increasing, products and services were being carried from one place to another, and people were being exposed to new ideas and technologies. It was a chaotic world. In the chaotic world the only thing that was certain that one can only trust themselves, it was even hard to trust people who were with us, family or friends, everyone moved with a certain motive and no one but themselves were aware of that fact. So one had to be very caution in saying or doing things One of the most popular industry was of private spies, the spy were hired at personal and governmental level, each organization and individual had their motives, the government was interested in know the facts about other organizations and their plans and their activities whereas, individuals were interested in knowing about their spouse, siblings and children. During the popularity of the industry many writers started writing novels based on such stories and themes. In order to create and sell their books the novels included stories from real life, added few extra details and released it to the public. People found such books very interesting to read, they started relating themselves to the stories, and it created a an unrest in the minds of the people, due to the writing novels the demand for private detectors also increased, people started hiring them for their personal motives. Another issues that was faced by the spied in reality and the spied in the book were the moral issues, it was hard to trust people around even if they were friends or family, their work was very complicated and they could not include their personal life to it. At the same time they have to keep a proper distinction between the two. They could not include their personal motives, liking and disliking towards a person in the analysis they would present. These would include their background, their social activities, their religion, their values, their living and other related subjects. One of the basic facts that makes a novel interesting is the bridge between the basic conceptual scheme in literary sematic and on the other hand in factual treatments. In espionage of a spy the there is a structural difference between police and military espionage. A number of social and environmental insecurities inherent in espionage and its literary inheritance are outlined in our subject discussion. The London spy was one the most interesting and vividly read novels of the time. It was a portrayal of culture of the English men, the literature was written for the interest of women. It was written mainly by Ned Ward, the stories are short and representation of different events that take place in the society. During the time period when the London Spy was published many other similar novels were written, it was a depiction of the increase of importance of the secret society who were working at different levels for different people. Some of these included, Jack of Spies, by David Downing which was written during the time period of First World War and defined few of the reason why such societies were created and how they made an important impact. These Events can include the murder of a friend, gathering information of rival country or rival organization or rival competitive. These different stories are an representation of how these event differ in nature and how the spy has to act differently to gather the information. For individual they can follow the person to gather personal information but to gather information for an organization or a country they need to have a network of spies who will work for them at different levels. These spies have to kept a secret from the masses as well as from one another. That is why in our topic of discussion we would look and discuss question No. 3 that states “There are certain things I like in this book: for example the predicament of the agent with scruples” (Graham Greene, ‘Introduction’ to The Confidential Agent [1939] (London: Vintage, 2002), p. x”. The reason for selecting the question is that it deals with a very critical aspect of a spy’s job. The job where things has to be very clear in the minds of the performer, the duty is full of doubts to the extent that the companies often hire one spy to spy and report about the other spy. Jobs in those era were not regulated, there were no rules to how one privacy was being exposed, there were no punishment for people interfering and reporting about another’s life and their daily activities. That is why the job was easy to accomplish. Along with the rule and regulations the security were not highly complicated, it was easy to follow a person without being followed and it was easy to breach the walls of office, home and other public areas without even being noticed. The job was easy for the spy to perform as there were less chances of being caught and even lesser chances or being punished. However, in the ease of the job the most critical aspect was the moral aspect of each spy. There are many things that can be known about the person under observation, but how much to share is dependent upon the spy, and it was under his duty to ensure that he does not mix what he had to report with what he reports. It was easy being misguide anyone, one could add as many details in the report as they can, and it could have made any kind of impact on the two parties, one who is being spied and the other who is spying. It could be two individuals, two companies or even two countries. The moral grounds have to be set by each individual and he has to ensure that he does not lose self in the process. There were many spies stories written at the time and each of them presented with a different aspect of the job and how it was performed by each individual. There were at many occasions question raised by the spy and how it was resolved them on moral grounds. The London Spy was a popular series of the same subject; it was a series of novel written on different subjects over a time spam of 18 months and in each monthly story that was published, it was related to a different subject and a different story, but the underlining essence was a story that revolved around some mystery. We read the story of Mr. K and Mr. D and the story of interference by the police and other government agencies and all had to face the issue of morality at one part or the other. They had to ensure at a personal level what they believe and what they have to deliver. Similarly with Graham Greene novel we had to see the similar issue when he had to create a balance between his personal and professional life and it was becoming difficult for him to sustain the balance. He had to make few changes and few moral decisions. He had to clearly differentiate what he had to share with his family and wife, a wife who he really loved and trusted. It becomes difficult for the family to believe and trust a person working as a spy, because a duty to job is keep everything a secret, and to maintain the sanctity of the information that is gathered, at the same time one has to be sure that his information is not misused by anyone even himself. Morality has a subjective definition; it cannot be defined in words or cannot be simplified, otherwise to have moral ground and to keep morality is to ensure the information is not misused or shared with the wrong resources. But the misuse of information and wrong resources has to be defined by the individual who is the spy. The writer had the experience of travelling in various places around the world, and that is why he had the moral aspect of different culture and that is why he had portrayed that sense in a beautiful manner. He took all the quality from different cultures and combined them all in the actual stories related to England. Morality and being a spy are two very distinctive and differentiating qualities. A good spy is one who understands both the concepts and interprets them in the similar manner like Greene and Mr. D did in their stories. Read More