# Chapter VI explained — The Secret Agent

> Chapter companion for The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad.

## What happens

The Assistant Commissioner reflects on his relationship with the great lady, a disciple of Michaelis, and his distaste for his desk job. He fears that if Michaelis is arrested for the bombing, the great lady will never forgive him. Chief Inspector Heat connects Michaelis to the crime, but the Assistant Commissioner decides to investigate Verloc himself, suspecting Heat's secrecy. The chapter also details Michaelis's past as a convict and his idealistic, humanitarian creed.

## Themes in this chapter

### Class and Social Inequality

The great lady's detachment from economic realities contrasts with Michaelis's humanitarian vision of universal ruin.

### Moral Squalor and Corruption

The Assistant Commissioner's self-deception and the police's manipulative tactics reflect moral decay.

### Psychology of Crime

Heat's focus on Michaelis and the Assistant Commissioner's personal motives reveal the psychological underpinnings of the investigation.

## Character check-ins

### Assistant Commissioner

Reflects on his dislike for desk work and his affection for the great lady; decides to investigate Verloc despite Heat's objections.

### Chief Inspector Heat

Connects Michaelis to the bombing and defends his secrecy; is dismissed by the Assistant Commissioner for the night.

### Michaelis

Described as a ticket-of-leave apostle with an invincible humanitarian creed; his obesity and childlike trust are highlighted.

### Mother

The great lady, a disciple of Michaelis, who influences the Assistant Commissioner's decisions; her kindness and wisdom are noted.

### Mr. Verloc

Mentioned as a spy in the pay of a foreign government; lives over his shop with his wife and mother-in-law.

## Key lines

> She could not conceive how it could affect her position, for instance. She had developed these discoveries to the Assistant Commissioner with all the serene fearlessness of an old woman who had escaped the blight of indifference.

The great lady, secure in her social standing, naively discusses Michaelis's economic theories with the Assistant Commissioner.

_Highlights her detachment from the realities of class and economic change._

> The Assistant Commissioner made a reflection extremely unbecoming his official position without being really creditable to his humanity. 'If the fellow is laid hold of again,' he thought, 'she will never forgive me.'

The Assistant Commissioner worries that arresting Michaelis will anger the great lady, prioritizing personal relationships over duty.

_Reveals his conflicted motives and the corruption of his official role._

> His ideas were not in the nature of convictions. They were inaccessible to reasoning. They formed in all their contradictions and obscurities an invincible and humanitarian creed, which he confessed rather than preached.

Michaelis's beliefs are more like a faith than reasoned arguments, making him both innocent and inflexible.

_Characterizes Michaelis as a naive idealist, central to the novel's critique of anarchism._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters/vi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_secret_agent_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_secret_agent_se/chapters