George Smiley

Remember, I did this under the time limits that you might have in an exam, so there will be some gaps. It is by no means perfect. It's what you might be expected to come up with in about 45 minutes.

This text is in the genre of a spy novel. However it is not in the tradition of James Bond, as George Smiley is clearly not that kind of spy. The author John Le Carre clearly has a different kind of spy in mind. Le Carre’s purpose is as might be expected to entertain the audience, but not through acts of great courage and romantic conquest, but rather through his portrayal of a very ordinary man, who is suffering a very mundane problem suffered by mere mortals, an unfaithful wife. The tone of the text is one of dullness, monotony, ordinariness. Smiley is painted as very much an outsider in society.
The first paragraph sets the scene with the establishment of hatred that he feels for his wife, although he could not realistically sustain this as he still feels trapped by the love he has for her.
The next paragraph sets the rather dull tone with a build-up of vocabulary, “fog, heavier, closeness, bare, sparse, cautious…” all of this serving to create an atmosphere of oppression. The sentences are rather short and to the point. The mention of the fashionable King’s Road serves to establish the alienation of Smiley from this world. He is too ordinary, too mundane. The cul-de-sac emphasizes the fact that he feels trapped in a dead-end of his own. The oxymoronic “shrieking, silent…” reflects the anguish he feels. Lady Macbeth is perhaps reflective of the role his wife has played, in betrayal and manipulation of him.
The shutters of the next paragraph further emphasise the way he has been shut out of mainstream world, but they are not closed, highlighting the rather free-spirited nature of his wife. She is presented as a sophisticated rather sociable person who likes the finer things in life, contrasting with the dull monotony of Smiley’s world. It seems their relationship had been one of dependence on his part, and tolerance on hers, as long as she could have her adventures. She has clearly tormented him with her succession of affairs, and he is painted as a rather pathetic figure who would always accept her back, she would try for a while, learn German, so he could read to her, but in the end it would not last.
“As he watched…” is first of all reflective of his profession, he is after all a spy. It also emphasizes his alienation from the world of his wife. He still feels great resentment at what she put him through. The notes in the mirror . show what feelings he still has for her, how he has tortured himself in a masochistic way with his attachment to her, and that he has even kept all her letters to him in a “collection”.
It is quite sad when he is looking through the windows and it takes him some time to realize that she has another man in with her in the bedroom. He still is fooling himself until the moment when he sees someone else close the curtains. His obsession is still with security of the house, perhaps reflecting his own insecurity. There is a certain irony here in the situation in that the security is acting against him.
The last paragraph establishes the shame and self-disgust he feels. He has been fooled but it is his own fault. He is truly an outsider now, betrayed once again, by the woman he idealises. The words “anguish…blindly” clearly show this. He imagines what kinds of man might be in there with her, and his hatred is quite clear, all the types of men he might despise.
In summary Smiley is seen as a sad, alienated figure, who is deluding himself about his wife. In his work he is a senior spy, but the irony is that he is in thrall of his wife and under her control.