Theme Of Fact And Fiction In From The Cold War

Fact and Fiction in the Cold War: John Le Carre; The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

Ben Parfitt

HIST 2137: The Global Cold War

Dr. Gordon Morrell

9 June, 2023

The ‘fictional’ novel written by former British intelligence officer, John Le Carre, titled; The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, is a well established espionage novel that portrays the roles of the intelligence agencies and competition for dominance of Europe between the communist Soviet Union and the capitalist Western allies. After WWII, with the Nazi’s defeated, the rising Russian power began to threaten Western supremacy, forcing the United States to further engage themselves in Western Europe, specifically West Germany. In this circumstance, many had feared another World War was approaching

Oftentimes, this is done in inhumane ways such as murder or cruelty, justifying the loss of these lives with the fight for supremacy. In all circumstances in this profession, the spy must commit their utmost loyalty to the agency, but the agency will not always protect the spy; it will defend the system at all costs, even if it means eliminating one of their own. For the West, state sanctioned violence is not used against opponents, however the spies are responsible for breaking these rules in order to defend the system. This is one of the main sources of Le Carre’s insight into the issues of secret intelligence, where the novel finds more moral similarities than differences between the East and West, and their respective intelligence services, “I mean you’ve got to compare method with method, and ideal with ideal. I would say that since the war, our methods— ours and those of the opposition— have become much of the same” (Le Carre, 16). Such similarities highlighted by Le Carre are rooted from the inhumane mistreatment of those (even prominent agents), who are below the religious and class elites in both communities. With regard to the ideologies in the East, progressional ideas are considered more essential than its people, therefore death of an innocent individual is more likely justifiable for the greater good

Furthermore, some of the other major issues of secret intelligence and the Cold War as Le Carre saw it, was that it was difficult, as many agents suffered from the stress alienating themselves from others in full isolation, and even then, their autonomy could be manipulated by a large corporation such as the Circus/Abteilung. In each case, east or west, Le Carre expressed that the costs of being loyal as an intelligence officer is usually followed by being a victim of manipulation. Inevitably, Le Carre insists that both societies are equally morally