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Spies and double agents in film and literature
There's a fascinating challenge on Snapedom this month. We are to talk about spies and double agents and compare them to Severus Snape. Here's what I responded: I'm cross-posting here because I want to boost one of my favorite shows for those who may not know it. ) If anyone's interested in the original monthly challenge, you can find it here: http://asylums.insanejournal.com/snapedom/277671.html
At first I thought: Double agents? Yikes! I don't read many spy stories, and can't think of any characters like that at all. But then I thought of two.
The first is Elim Garak, from my all-time favorite "Trek", "Deep Space Nine". He's a fascinating character - polite, urbane, a bit mischievous, and, as he keeps telling people, harmless - at least on the surface. When you look just a bit deeper, he is ruthless, capable of cruelty, deceptive, and dangerous. Young doctor Bashir is convinced he is a spy, an agent of the Obsidian order. And the doctor's right. But when you look still deeper, Garak is capable of love, and is intensely loyal to the few people he cares for. He's loyal unto death. We know this because, in one of the key "Garak" episodes, Constable Odo has to knock Garak out in order to drag him to safety. He refuses to leave Enabran Tain, the man we later discover is his father. Garak so longs to redeem himself in his father's eyes that he is willing to die a pointless and useless death to show his loyalty.
Does this make him a good man? I'm not sure - no more than is Julian Bashir. Trying to analyze Garak's character is like peeling an onion, layer by layer. Is there actually a center to the man, or merely an endless series of layers? Watching the friendship between Garak and Bashir was one of the joys of the series to me. Both men are profoundly alone, and lonely: both are hiding secrets they will not reveal easily - if at all - to anyone else. Julian is always trying to find out who Garak really is and asking pointed questions; Garak is always deflecting his questions with a wall of irony. The sniping never stops. And yet the friendship that arises between them is deep and true. Garak allows Julian Bashir to learn things about him that no one else knows.
Back to earlier question: is Garak a good man? Perhaps not in the way Snape is, but there are similarities. In what he chooses to reveal to Bashir, we learn that Garak is vulnerable, and that he's capable of both love and loyalty. There is a certain integrity to the man, in spite of all his lies and ruthlessness. We can see, if we look closely, that he loves his country, but not uncritically. He hates stupidity and waste of life; he can feel compassion - for lost children, for example. On DS9, he masquerades as a tailor, and I, for one, believe him when he says he hates being a tailor. But he is very good at it.
For those who don't know the show - and even for those who do - here's a link to one of my all time favorite scenes. Garak has just been attacked and is in the infirmary, where doctor Bashir is examining him. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vtk-bX2v9k
The second person I thought of is Gabriel Syme, in G.K. Chesterron's "The Man Who Was Thursday". This slight, fair, foppish young man is a poet who infiltrates a group of anarchists in order to bring them down from within. Syme doesn't bear much resemblance to either Snape or Garak, but may be more like Snape. Although he considers himself a rationalist and a lover of order, Syme is in fact a romantic. And he is haunted and comforted through his adventures by the memory of a lovely girl's red hair. The other thing Syme has in common with both Snape and Garak is that he's very brave, and prepared to sacrifice himself for a cause he believes in. This is a zany book with rather sad undertones - like Syme himself. It's really hard to describe, but, if you're interested, and like turn of the century lit like Conan Doyle, I'd recommend that you read it.
That's it for me!
At first I thought: Double agents? Yikes! I don't read many spy stories, and can't think of any characters like that at all. But then I thought of two.
The first is Elim Garak, from my all-time favorite "Trek", "Deep Space Nine". He's a fascinating character - polite, urbane, a bit mischievous, and, as he keeps telling people, harmless - at least on the surface. When you look just a bit deeper, he is ruthless, capable of cruelty, deceptive, and dangerous. Young doctor Bashir is convinced he is a spy, an agent of the Obsidian order. And the doctor's right. But when you look still deeper, Garak is capable of love, and is intensely loyal to the few people he cares for. He's loyal unto death. We know this because, in one of the key "Garak" episodes, Constable Odo has to knock Garak out in order to drag him to safety. He refuses to leave Enabran Tain, the man we later discover is his father. Garak so longs to redeem himself in his father's eyes that he is willing to die a pointless and useless death to show his loyalty.
Does this make him a good man? I'm not sure - no more than is Julian Bashir. Trying to analyze Garak's character is like peeling an onion, layer by layer. Is there actually a center to the man, or merely an endless series of layers? Watching the friendship between Garak and Bashir was one of the joys of the series to me. Both men are profoundly alone, and lonely: both are hiding secrets they will not reveal easily - if at all - to anyone else. Julian is always trying to find out who Garak really is and asking pointed questions; Garak is always deflecting his questions with a wall of irony. The sniping never stops. And yet the friendship that arises between them is deep and true. Garak allows Julian Bashir to learn things about him that no one else knows.
Back to earlier question: is Garak a good man? Perhaps not in the way Snape is, but there are similarities. In what he chooses to reveal to Bashir, we learn that Garak is vulnerable, and that he's capable of both love and loyalty. There is a certain integrity to the man, in spite of all his lies and ruthlessness. We can see, if we look closely, that he loves his country, but not uncritically. He hates stupidity and waste of life; he can feel compassion - for lost children, for example. On DS9, he masquerades as a tailor, and I, for one, believe him when he says he hates being a tailor. But he is very good at it.
For those who don't know the show - and even for those who do - here's a link to one of my all time favorite scenes. Garak has just been attacked and is in the infirmary, where doctor Bashir is examining him. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vtk-bX2v9k
The second person I thought of is Gabriel Syme, in G.K. Chesterron's "The Man Who Was Thursday". This slight, fair, foppish young man is a poet who infiltrates a group of anarchists in order to bring them down from within. Syme doesn't bear much resemblance to either Snape or Garak, but may be more like Snape. Although he considers himself a rationalist and a lover of order, Syme is in fact a romantic. And he is haunted and comforted through his adventures by the memory of a lovely girl's red hair. The other thing Syme has in common with both Snape and Garak is that he's very brave, and prepared to sacrifice himself for a cause he believes in. This is a zany book with rather sad undertones - like Syme himself. It's really hard to describe, but, if you're interested, and like turn of the century lit like Conan Doyle, I'd recommend that you read it.
That's it for me!
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Ooooh. *makes a note*
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I loved the early Bashir/Garak dynamic. I especially liked the flirty edge Andrew Robinson gave their exchanges until the producers told them to stop it. Garak was so amused by Bashir's naievete, and Bashir so intrigued by Garak's mysteriousness. It was a shame that they rather dropped it for O'Brien and Bashir - although I loved them too.
I don't know if Garak could be described as a good man. His one constant is that he will do what's 'best' for Cardassia - although his best may not be what others think (letting Quark's dissident girlfriend go free, for example). He's true to himself, and that's an impressive quality.
I think one of the joys of DS9 is that no-one is flat out 'good' or 'bad'. There are shades of grey.
I love the character of Garak. His one liners are second to none, and 'In the Pale Moonlight' was probably his finest hour.
Did you read Andrew Robinson's follow-up book?
As for comparing him to Snape, I think its their loneliness that stands out most. There's also the fruitless grasping for the approval of a father figure - as you point out with Garak and Tain. Snape also wants a sign of some sort of recognition or care from Dumbledore, I think.
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I agree! That's so astute of you. And I, too, love Garak's one-liners. I did read A Stitch in Time, and thought it well done. It offered a bit more hope, for Garak and his world, than the final episode did.
Like someone who commented on youtube, I would rather have seen a movie or serial dedicated to Cardassia and its rebuilding than a silly reboot that destroyed the "Star Trek" universe as I knew and loved it.