A Perfect Spy

Pym’s father, Rick, has a powerful influence on his son, as evident in how much more Pym thinks about Rick than anyone else. To most of the characters, Rick is a mystery. All the events in the present day, those on which the narration takes a detached, objective perspective, mention Rick only in passing. His death is an important moment for Pym but not for anyone else. To them, Rick is shrouded in the mystery and obscurity that Pym has deliberately drawn across his father. He’s referred to dismissively as a con man or a criminal but not a person of real importance. Compare this vagueness to Pym’s narration, and Rick’s importance to him becomes clear. In Pym’s version of his past, Rick is ever-present. Even when Rick is absent, his absence begs the question of what he’s doing. Pym never stops writing to his father, even when his father is in jail or broke. Rick’s strong influence is evident in his son’s decision to forefront him in his memories and in the small ways that Pym’s actions reflect Rick’s behavior. Pym’s penchant for lying, his rejection of traditional moral limitations, and his complete distrust of women all derive from his father. In this sense, Rick the father is the most complete character in the narrative, even if this version of the character is known only from the subjective perspective of a traumatized but still loving son.

While Pym would rather focus on Rick’s role as a father, his role as a romantic partner is significant. Most of the women Pym meets through Rick face a tragedy in their lives. His mother, Dot, ends up in a psychiatric hospital, Lippsie kills herself, the baroness scams young Pym, and Peggy Wentworth is filled with a powerful desire for revenge. Pym can’t tell his father’s story without mentioning these women, but in doing so he reveals the immorality of the man who had such a profound influence on his life. A common feature of Rick’s romantic relationships is his tendency to exploit and abuse women. Each relationship is transactional, in the sense that Rick uses women for profit, manipulates them emotionally, and abandons them when they’re no longer of any use to him. Pym’s portrayal of Rick’s abusive relationship with women is hidden in the subtext of his narration, conveyed only through implication and never interrogated. To do so would force Pym to admit that his own relationship with women is very similar. When Pym meets Peggy, however, he can’t ignore this any longer. Her explanation of Rick’s abuse forces Pym to reckon with Rick’s influence on Lippsie and Dot, women who meant a great deal to Pym. Peggy’s story pains him, and he helps her publicly accuse Rick of abuse. If Rick the father is the dominant mode of portrayal in Pym’s narration, Rick’s abusive relationship with women is the uncomfortable truth that Pym can’t ignore forever.

The final scenes frame Rick as a pathetic, broke annoyance, someone who places Pym’s safety in doubt because he’s extended beyond his means. Rick spends so long conning the world that eventually he runs out of targets. The prospect of one last con fuels him, propelling him forward in a pathetic, desperate drive to repair every mistake he has made. Rick dies alone and broke, a shadow of his former self that provides an uncomfortable warning to Pym of what lies in his own future. After seeing this version of his father, Pym steels himself. He knows that he doesn’t want to end his life like Rick. This final iteration of Rick as a man suffering from a pathetic, ignominious end spurs Pym to take control of his own fate. Ultimately, Rick’s final influence is a warning of how not to die.

In a novel set during the Cold War, Axel is the only real character from the other side. Unlike the British and American characters, Axel represents an alien world. However, his world is achingly familiar too. Like Pym, Axel’s past is mired in mystery. He suggests to Pym that he fought with the Germans in World War II and that he has worked for Czechoslovakian intelligence services, though the exact details of his biography are as unverifiable as those in the stories Pym spins for every new person he meets. Axel meets Pym in Bern, and they become fast friends. A love of literature and other shared interests forms the foundation of a friendship that shapes the rest of their lives. In addition, they share professional potential. The way that they move through the world, untethered to traditional ideas of truth or morality, sets them up for a future in espionage. Their similarity means that these friends seem almost destined to become spies. Knowing this about one another, they reunite later in life and decide that their friendship means more to them than their patriotism. Insisting that they’re working to build a new world free of old obligations, they establish an elaborate, private intelligence sharing network that helps both their careers and makes them feel as though they’re working toward world peace. They never achieve their goal, but their friendship is their only tangible bond in the world. Axel is a formative influence on Pym because he’s one of the few people who gives Pym something to care about.

Pym’s love for Axel is sincere, but both men display uneasiness about wholly trusting the other. This suspicion is justified. In Bern, Pym betrays his friend by discussing him with Jack, which leads to Axel’s arrest and disappearance, something that Pym considered before talking to Jack. After their reunion, Pym insists that he’s innocent, and Axel dismisses the idea that he might hold a grudge—but the betrayal hangs over them in a very real sense. Axel pressures Pym into working with him, emotionally manipulating him just like Pym emotionally manipulates his own agents. Pym knows that Axel is exploiting him but stops caring. He values his friendship so much that he’s willing to be exploited; he certainly values his friendship with Axel more than he feels any sense of patriotism. The tragic truth about people in the espionage trade is that they can never really trust again. Even after working together for so long, Axel and Pym never quite trust one another. After disappearing, Pym surprises Axel by abandoning him. The relationship that began with a betrayal also ends with one. Axel’s role in the novel is to show how broken—and unable to trust—men in this profession become. Even when their friendship seems to transcend loyalties and morals, trust remains frustratingly out of reach.

Alongside Axel and Rick, Pym’s handler, Jack Brotherhood, completes the triumvirate of formative influences on young Magnus Pym. If Rick teaches his son how to lie and manipulate, and Axel shows a world beyond the ideological and cultural boundaries of Great Britain, then Jack teaches Pym about professionalism and patriotism. They meet at a small English-speaking church in Bern, where young Jack recognizes the potential in Pym and begins to train him for a possible position in the intelligence services. While in training, Pym learns that Jack is something of a legend. He fought in World War II and taught many of Pym’s peers everything they know about spying. For these young men, Jack is in an envious position. He helped win a war, emerging from World War II with a glorious record that the men who work during the Cold War could never match. This combat experience and knowledge of how to win distinguishes Jack in an institution in which many of the people are growing increasingly disillusioned given the endless, unwinnable grind of the Cold War. Pym eventually realizes that the patriotism and professionalism Jack imparted to him are unattainable for him. He abandons these ideas yet allows Jack (and many others) to think that he’s still as invested as ever. Consequently, Pym’s betrayal is an even greater shock to his superior.

Jack’s emotional and desperate reaction to Pym’s betrayal suggests that he’s not as invested in ideals of patriotism and professionalism as he led the world to believe. Rather, Pym’s betrayal hurts Jack on a personal level. That Pym was able to dupe the British intelligence world for so long is a condemnation of Jack’s judge of character, especially after he fiercely defended Pym against the Americans’ accusations. Jack’s judge of character is essential in his work, so an inability to do so undermines his capability. Furthermore, Jack feels personally cheated by a man who was once so close to him. He feels that Pym has betrayed more than just the Firm or his country; he has betrayed Jack’s trust. Jack’s desperate search for Pym becomes a mission to reclaim the pride Jack lost after his former star pupil betrayed him. Jack does more than anyone else to track down Pym—but is moments too late. Pym kills himself while Jack is just outside the building, once again mocking Jack by hiding almost in plain sight. Jack represents the institutions that Pym betrays, and, through his emotional reaction, he symbolizes the self-interest on which these grandiose institutions are all built.