Comparative study of "Spy who came in from the cold", "xXx" and Joseph Conrad's "The secret agent"

Essay by ChowbearHigh School, 11th grade October 2006

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Spy fiction assessment task

Our human capacity and appetite for mystery and intrigue has rendered the spy fiction genre extremely popular, giving rise to an immense diversity of values, features and themes reflecting not only the author's values and concerns, but also the context of the text and our personal values and ideals. The genre has given birth to a plethora of texts ranging from the exaggeratedly stereotypical that blindly follow the worn and used formula for spy fiction such as 'xXx', to the ones that shine in their originality and deviate from the restrictive constraints of "conventional" spy fiction, including masterpieces such as Le Carrés "Spy who came in from the cold" and "The Secret Agent" written by Joseph Conrad. With the multitude of spy novels being produced, it is inevitable when dealing with the shadowy world of espionage that betrayal will arise as one of the predominant values as illustrated in "Spy who came in from the cold".

"Spy who came in from the cold" was written in 1963 by John Le Carré in the years following the Second World War. Le Carré actually spent the early 1960's as a secret agent for MI6, the British secret service. His real life experience as a spy working for England made him wary of the sensationalism of Ian Flemming's James Bond genre of novels and the unrealistic life of espionage that it depicted. As such, Le Carré refuted Flemming's James Bond fiction with "Spy who came in from the cold" as a critical and realistic response. The overwhelmingly evident theme of betrayal enshrined within "spy who came in from the cold" can actually be linked with Le Carré's personal experiences within MI6. During his work as a spy, he was one among many British operatives whose cover was...