The Secret Agent

To keep his job as a secret agent, Verloc is tasked with blowing up the Greenwich Observatory. The Royal Greenwich Observatory was first built in the 17th century and, by the time the novel takes place, functioned in British society as a symbol of science. Vladimir orders Verloc to destroy the Observatory precisely because of its symbolic value. By attacking the Observatory, he explains to Verloc, the anarchists will be attacking the building that—to the public—best embodies the British dedication to science and progress. In turn, this will create a division in public support for anarchism and cause the state to deal more strictly with the radicals. In this way, Vladimir hopes to weaponize the symbolism of the building. He wants to attack the Observatory for its symbolic value, demonstrating that he is thinking of his battle against anarchism on a more abstract level. By ordering a false flag attack against the Observatory, he can redefine the public perception of anarchism and anarchists, thus giving the state permission to crack down on the people who, he believes, threaten the status quo. The Observatory symbolizes what the public believes is good about their current society, which is why Vladimir hopes that it will be a necessary sacrifice to preserve that society in the long run.

The Greenwich Observatory also has a broader international significance related to Britain’s status as a colonial power. The Greenwich Observatory is the symbolic demarcation line of Greenwich Meantime, the modern means by which international time zones were organized. According to the Greenwich Mean Time system, Britain is the starting point for the calculation of international times and dates. This system places Britain, symbolically, at the center of the world and renders it the organizing principle around which everything and everyone else is arranged. In a chronological sense, Victorian Britain is placed at the very center of the world, just as the power and breadth of the British Empire placed the country at the center of the global political system. Greenwich Observatory, the founding point of the international chronological system, is a symbol of Britain’s status on the world stage. Vladimir, in ordering Verloc to attack the Greenwich Observatory, is also ordering him to attack the building which represents Britain’s position at the center of the global order. Vladimir, a representative of a foreign government, may be targeting anarchists and radicals, but he cannot resist any attempt to undermine the status of the British Empire in a symbolic attack on Britain’s centrality to the international order.

Significantly, however, the attack fails. Verloc sends Stevie with a bomb, but the bomb does not even reach the Observatory, exploding instead in Greenwich Park. In this respect, the plot of The Secret Agent diverges from the real life attack which inspired the novel. The terrorist act in the novel is a failure in terms of symbolism. The desired effect—to target British identity and to turn the public against anarchists—flounders because the attack itself fails. The true failure of the attack is due to the symbolism of the Observatory; without the attack on the Observatory itself, the attack is just another bombing. Vladimir cannot achieve his goals with such a lack of symbolism. This suggests that the symbolism is more powerful than the bomb. For all the destruction caused by the blast, for all the tragedy of Stevie’s lost life, the Observatory itself remains standing and, as such, the status quo continues.