56 pages • 1 hour read
John le CarréTinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1974A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Great Game of Intelligence
Throughout Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, an important theme is the game-like nature of the world of intelligence. The people who work in the Circus live in a separate world, where they have nicknames for everything from wiretapping to murder. Those who work inside the Circus put themselves against the rest of the world, trying to outwit everyone, including their allies. The detached and cynical attitude of men like Haydon illustrates how emotionally detached people become from their actions. To them, the world of intelligence is a highly-addicted game in which they must always emerge on top. For those who have been retired from the Circus, being unable to take part in this game is a torture. Connie Sachs, Jim Westerby, and Smiley all regret that they are excluded from the great game of intelligence, even if they only played minor roles.
At the beginning of the novel, Smiley is utterly bored. He is excluded from the game of intelligence gathering through no fault of his own. His wife leaves him, he spends his days trying to avoid certain people, and he invents chores to occupy his time, all while trying to satisfy his busy mind with small bits of spy tradecraft that no longer mean anything. When Lacon recruits him, Smiley is invigorated by being allowed back into the world of intelligence. The clear contrast between the shambling old man at the beginning of the novel and the wily, cunning Smiley who catches Haydon is stark. The great game of intelligence is not only addictive, but it gives purpose to people’s lives. They find themselves unable to live without it and unable to leave it behind.
The sense of the Circus as being part of a separate world is mirrored in the school. Prideaux takes a job at the school after the failure of Operation Testify, and he teaches the boys like Roach to think like spies. He teaches them how to watch, who to look out for, and he passes on his paranoia to those under his care. The school is separate from the real world, a place where Prideaux and Roach are both trapped. They rely on each other to make sense of this new world, developing their own language and behavior, which mimics that of the Circus. As a result, the school becomes a small-scale reflection of the great game of intelligence.
The Fall of the British Empire
Haydon is so disgusted with Britain’s diminished state that he commits treason. The characters feel aggrieved that they were born into a collapsing world, while their immediate forebears enjoyed the spoils of Empire. The characters only recognize what they have lost in terms of Britain’s diminished status, rather than what they now have. Trying to revenge this loss or trying to restore it becomes a key motivation for the British characters and a source of amusement for everyone else (like Karla).
Without a meaningful state project, the characters become disillusioned. Haydon and Bland may once have believed in a British cause to make their work worthwhile. Since then, however, they have learned that nothing they do at the Circus will stop the inevitable decline. The country will continue its slide toward irrelevancy, and they are simply passing the time as the world falls apart around them. The people in the Circus are tasked with trying to know everything about the world. Unfortunately for them, one of their most obvious discoveries is how little their work matters and how meaningless their actions have become.
The (Dis)Comfort of Unconventional Love
The romantic relationships portrayed in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy are rarely conventional, forcing the characters to deal with the impossibility of their emotions. One of the most difficult of these relationships is the romance between Haydon and Prideaux. As suggested by Connie Sachs, the two men were lovers at university. However, they couldn’t develop their relationship in public at this time, especially because they feared blackmail or worse by foreign intelligence services. The two men feel strongly for one another and never stop caring, even though Haydon betrays Prideaux and Britain. The unconventional love between Haydon and Prideaux forces Prideaux to invent elaborate excuses about Haydon’s behavior because he does not want to think less of the man he loves. Eventually, however, he realizes the truth about Haydon: Haydon loves Prideaux, but he doesn’t love Prideaux enough to protect him. Haydon sends Prideaux directly into danger to protect his own interests. Prideaux kills Haydon as a demonstration of the strength of his love, an unconventional demonstration for an unconventional relationship.
The marriage between Smiley and Ann is equally unconventional. Ann frequently cheats on Smiley and her infidelity is something of a joke in their social circles. Everyone knows Ann, and they make obtuse references to her lovers either to taunt Smiley or to make one another laugh. Even Karla is aware of Smiley’s unabating fondness for his unfaithful wife and tries to use it against him. The unconventional marriage is an illustration of the flawed nature of humanity. As Karla diagnoses, Ann is Smiley’s weakness. Every single person has a weakness, as Smiley states, but being aware of this weakness allows a person some measure of control. Smiley is aware of what people think of him and Ann, so this awareness allows him to manipulate the situation to some degree. While he can never bring himself to leave her, his awareness of his own flaw provides him with some degree of control. Smiley embraces his unconventional love and his weakness. In doing so, he becomes stronger.
Unconventional love can also be platonic. Tarr was recruited by Smiley and loves him like a father; Roach looks up to Prideaux in much the same way as they bond over their role as loners. Love provides a sense of solidarity in difficult times. With so much fear and paranoia surrounding these characters, even unconventional relationships such as these can provide comfort.
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