The Characters
John le Carré is a rarity among writers of spy fiction. In most novels in this popular genre, character is sacrificed to plot, but le Carré combines the pleasures of the well-plotted thriller with the deeper satisfactions of serious fiction—particularly the development of complex, fully realized characters.
Leamas has reached a critical stage when he must question his entire way of life as a secret agent. Related in the third person, revelations of Leamas’ personality are interspersed in the narrative. His failed marriage, the grief and moral dilemma caused by the loss of his many agents, his alternate bouts of hate and compassion for the agents of the enemy, his attraction to Liz, all play a significant part in the development of the plot. Liz Gold, for her part, must reconcile her dedication to the Party, which she joined out of compassion for the masses, with the realities of a bureaucratic system that will annihilate her love.
Even the characters that are not developed are given motivation for their action. Of one of Leamas’s interrogators, the author says: “There was something very orthodox about him which Leamas liked. It was the orthodoxy of strength, of confidence. If Peters lied there would be a reason. The lie would be a calculated, necessary lie....”
The author also risks pedantry at times by inserting philosophy in the dialogues of the characters:“I don’t give a damn whether you believe me or not,” Leamas rejoined hotly. Fiedler smiled. “I am glad. That is your virtue,” he said, “that is your great virtue. It is the virtue of indifference. A little resentment here, a little pride there, but that is nothing: the distortions of a tape recorder. You are objective....”
Characters Discussed
Alec Leamas
Alec Leamas, a British spy, about fifty years old and a loner. Leamas, the former head of a network of undercover agents operating out of Berlin, is directed by British Intelligence to stage a fake defection and bring about the downfall of Hans-Dieter Mundt, a top East German agent. Tough-minded and cynical, Leamas has long avoided the moral and ethical questions raised by his work, adopting the unspoken philosophy of his profession that any action is justified if it achieves the desired results. Divorced and the father of children he rarely sees, Leamas is a case-hardened and emotionally isolated man until he begins a relationship with Liz Gold.
Liz Gold
Liz Gold, a woman in her early twenties, naïve, idealistic, and a member of the Communist Party. Liz is working in a London library when she meets Leamas and becomes his lover. Tall, awkward, intelligent, and serious, Liz believes passionately in the future of world communism. She is warm and loving toward Leamas, and she remains ignorant of the true nature of his work until she becomes an unwitting participant in the espionage plot. Her journey to East Germany forces her to confront the realities of life in a communist state and ends with her death at the Berlin Wall.
Control
Control, the head of British Intelligence. Known only by his code name, Control is a mixture of old school manners and ruthless tactics. Detached and enigmatic, he is the master manipulator who pulls the strings that hold the complex espionage operation together, often risking the lives of his agents to achieve the results he wants.
Hans-Dieter Mundt
Hans-Dieter Mundt, the deputy director of operations for the East German intelligence community. A onetime Nazi, Mundt is a cruel, ruthless man who has brought about the death of several agents and is disliked and feared even by his own people. He...
(This entire section contains 508 words.)
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is also, as Leamas at last learns, a highly placed double agent working for the British.
Fiedler
Fiedler, Mundt’s second-in-command and a committed Communist. Fiedler, too, is mistrusted by his own people and is infamous among British agents for his savage interrogation techniques. Fiedler, a Jew, has long hated the anti-Semitic Mundt and sees Leamas as the key to his superior’s downfall.
Miss Crail
Miss Crail, the head librarian at the Bayswater Library for Psychic Research. Spinsterish, sour-tempered, and a stickler for details, Miss Crail takes an immediate dislike to Leamas, who spends a brief period working in the library.
William Ashe
William Ashe, a low-level Eastern bloc agent operating in England. The effete and homosexual Ashe first makes contact with Leamas regarding a possible defection.
Peters
Peters, Ashe’s superior. Peters is assigned to handle Leamas’ defection and to take him to East Berlin.
Karl Riemeck
Karl Riemeck, an East German official who has been acting as a British double agent. Riemeck is the last surviving member of Leamas’ Berlin network of spies. He is killed in the book’s opening pages as he attempts to cross over to the Western side.
Characters
Le Carre's approach to spies is unique, presenting characters that contrast sharply with the typical James Bond archetype. Alec Leamus, the protagonist of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, is a seasoned fifty-year-old spy, weary from years in the field. As the novel begins, he has just lost his last contact in East Germany and questions his reasons for staying in the espionage business. He has become disillusioned with the system he works within. As a result, he adopts numerous roles convincingly. He "goes to seed, [becomes] a resentful, drunken wreck"; spends time in prison; and, perhaps most perilously, falls in love. Eventually, he gets a chance to expose the East German Mundt, only to uncover the brutal and merciless nature of the spy world. Leamus is a collection of personas and masks, burdened by the pressures of modern society, uncommitted and disenchanted.
One of the few appealing female characters in le Carre's narrative is Liz Gold, who "had large components which seemed to hesitate between plainness and beauty." Innocently joining the Communist party, she dedicates herself completely to Leamus. She is indirectly betrayed in both her loyalties, experiencing the irony of a world where truth is elusive. Similarly, the East German Fiedler, persecuted for being Jewish, puts his faith in communism. He possesses evidence to incriminate Mundt, yet the current inhumane world allows no room for clear moral values.
Overall, characterization is not le Carre's forte. The figures he crafts are too abstract, too closely tied to their ideologies to become fully realized human beings. They lack pasts, families, and personal histories. Although shadowy, they effectively symbolize the modern individual—exhausted, perplexed, and uncommitted.
