The Man Who Was Thursday is an Edwardian psychological thriller that incorporates metaphysical, theoretical, and religious elements. In fact, the novel falls under multiple other sub-genres such as detective mystery, spy novel, and philosophical novel, among others. By blending mystery, philosophy, psychological terror, and religious allegory together, Chesterton’s novel defies generic conventions.
The Man Who Was Thursday is rooted in a blend between the psychological thriller and the detective novel. The protagonist, Gabriel Syme, finds himself embroiled in a mad scheme to infiltrate the Central Anarchist Council at the behest of a supposed policeman, who turns out to be behind the entire operation. As Syme strives to both keep his cover and investigate the workings of this supposed terrorist organization, he must battle his own fears and anxieties and discover a renewed sense of faith in the world around him.
Chesterton wrote this novel as a response to modern trends toward secularism, pessimism, and political extremist ideologies (like anarchism) which began to rise in the 1880s. Writing against the philosophies of scholars like Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, Chesterton advocated for the idea of the existence of a basic moral good and a return to religion as a means of protecting this principle. Throughout the novel, Chesterton demonstrates the necessity of faith as the backbone of a civil society.
