“Is the Spy Who Came in from the Cold a Novel of Its Time? How Is Its Context and Targeted Audience Reflected in the Novel? in Your Answer Refer to the Social Movement and Values of the Period.”

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Extension 1 Writing Folio: Spy Essay “Is the Spy Who Came in From the Cold a novel of its time? How is its context and targeted audience reflected in the novel? In your answer refer to the social movement and values of the period.” There are moments in time that shake humanity to the very core, the aftershocks of which are felt for years in every aspect of society; in the arts, in politics and even in our faith. The dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945 was one of these moments, catapulting mankind into an age of ideological warfare between the East and the West. The ideas and ways of thinking in John Le Carre’s 1963 novel The Spy Who Came in From the Cold are highly reflective of this period of time; a continual questioning of the morality taking place in this bleak chapter of human existence. The tenets of fear, anxiety, distrust and suspicion are targeted towards an audience living under the harsh reality of the Cold War, undoubtedly making Le Carre’s story of espionage a novel of its time. Like many pieces of literature written during the Cold War period, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold grapples with the ideas of isolation and detachment in a politically dehumanised world. Le Carre’s use of third-person narration – omniscient, ambiguous and devoid of emotion – embodies the disconnection of the individual in a world permeating with the anxiety of warfare and the secrecy of espionage. The struggle between the common masses and systems of power within the period demonstrate the collateral damage of the ongoing conflict. One such metaphorical depiction of this struggle sees Leamas, the protagonist of the novel, describe a vision of children and cars caught among giant lorries, “pounded and smashed until there is nothing left but the frenetic whine of klaxons.” As expressed by literary critic Peter Craven, “Le Carré exhibits the horror of ideology and the

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