A Soft Kind of Rock
"He was thoroughly domesticated" (4).
Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent (1907)
Points
for Reflection
J. Conrad's The Secret Agent (1907), chps 1-2
- does Verloc's cover--his pornography shop--make him seem seem dark and mysterious, ridiculous, or something else?
- what exactly does the narrator mean when he describes Verloc as "thoroughly domesticated"?
- what about Winnie's "unfathomable" and quiet demeanor (5, 6) is so attractive to the various male boarders who befriend her?
- is Stevie cast as a pitiful victim with few redeeming qualities, or as a capable agent shaping his own destiny?
- do the circles drawn by Stevie lend themselves to symbolic interpretation?
- is the "blind love" Stevie has for his sister (8) the simple product of operant conditioning, or evidence of real, active compassion on his part?
- chapter two begins with a claim that the previous chapter effectively
described "the house, the household, and the business Mr Verloc left
behind him" (9). In fact, the narrator's tone is somewhat ironic
when he comments "Such
was the house
. . ." (9, my emphasis). All is not as it seems in this household.
Explain exactly how the narrator goes about undercutting his own description
of
the Verloc home across chapter one,
implying
one
state
of
affairs while
detailing another.
- does Conrad's use of free indirect discourse--a technique which takes us directly into Verloc's mind (while still sounding like the narrator's voice)--increase or decrease our sympathy for and and appreciation of Verloc? For an example look at the bottom of page nine.
- does the reader's appreciation of Mr. Verloc grow or lessen across chapter two?
- can you identify clues as to why Winnie married Verloc?
- what is the endgame of Wurmt and Vladimir, and how does the latter suggest Verloc go about creating the desired state of affairs?
- do you think Mr. Vladamir's "philosophy of bomb throwing" serious,
comic, ironic, or something else (23-27)?
Paul Laurence Dunbar's "The Scapegoat" (1904), Dover 45-56
- what tone dominates the opening? Does the connection between love and law (45, 46) strike you as serious or comical? What of the description of the black population's "tendency to colonise" (45)?
- any thoughts as to what Asbury might whisper in Judge Davis's ear (46-47)?
- to what does Asbury presumably owe his admission to the bar?
- does the tale uphold the narrator's observation that "political virtue is always in a minority" (48)?
- what does Asbury mean by "lift" (49)?
- does it bother you that an author of color would suggest the black vote has frequently been bought (50)? Can today’s reader find this comical?
- the narrator declares that the outcry of "fraud" always follows elections (50). Of what type of fraud is Asbury accused?
- to whom is the narrator alluding when he describes Asbury as one who remains powerful though "shorn" of strength (51)?
- why does Asbury not implicate the guilty Judge Davis along with the others whose criminal actions he calmly enumerates prior to his sentencing (51)?
- what appears to be Asbury's endgame once he returns and opens a newsstand?
- what is the lesson which the town of Cadgers has "learned" (56)? Is the narrator suggesting that the political animal can be reformed?
The House of Parliament, Stormy Sky (1904)
Claude Monet
Dr. Paul Marchbanks
pmarchba@calpoly.edu
