13 Pages Posted: 26 Mar 2012

Date Written: March 23, 2012

Abstract

This article uses the character of George Smiley and the novels of John LeCarre to explore the moral tensions and moral attrition that occurs when individuals are asked to live lives of moral contradiction in public service. The novels exemplify the moral, psychological and institutional pressures on individuals whose official responsibilities require them to violate the norms of liberal democracy. The paper focuses upon three models of character that inhabit this world: absolutists — bureaucratic careerists — humanists or George Smiley, Le Carre’s protagonist. The play of characters illuminates the different moral and character qualities of loyalty and judgment that can sustain or break under the corrosive impact of espionage and similar activates in liberal democracy.