The Secret Agent

by

Joseph Conrad

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Chief Inspector Heat Character Analysis

Chief Inspector Heat is a detective in London’s Special Crimes Department; according to his job description, he’s an “expert in anarchist procedure.” He used to specialize in thieving, and he understood and respected professional thieves, whose instincts were connected to those of the police. By contrast, anarchism makes no sense to him, because it is inherently meaningless, and the process of catching anarchists has no rules. Heat has risen quickly through the professional ranks because he’s good at telling his superiors, like the Assistant Commissioner, what they want to hear. He suspects Michaelis’s involvement in the Greenwich bombing, and since he dislikes anarchists, he doesn’t have any qualms about letting Michaelis take the fall for the incident (despite little direct evidence), in order to satisfy public opinion. Heat also has a casual relationship with Verloc, letting him run his shop of shady wares in exchange for occasional information about anarchist activities. His boss and rival, the Assistant Commissioner, believes that Heat’s duty to opposing anarchism dangerously outweighs his duty to the Special Crimes Department. On the night of the bombing, Heat questions Winnie and then Verloc about what happened, using a recovered scrap of Stevie’s overcoat to help him draw the conclusion that Stevie was the bomber and that Verloc was the mastermind behind the attack. He encourages Verloc to make a run for it, since Verloc might not get the light prison sentence he expects.

Chief Inspector Heat Quotes in The Secret Agent

The The Secret Agent quotes below are all either spoken by Chief Inspector Heat or refer to Chief Inspector Heat. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Anarchy, Terrorism, and Corruption Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

[Inspector Heat] could understand the mind of a burglar, because, as a matter of fact, the mind and the instincts of a burglar are of the same kind as the mind and the instincts of a police officer. Both recognise the same conventions, and have a working knowledge of each other's methods and of the routine of their respective trades. […] Products of the same machine, one classed as useful and the other as noxious, they take the machine for granted in different ways, but with a seriousness essentially the same. The mind of Chief Inspector Heat was inaccessible to ideas of revolt. But his thieves were not rebels.

Related Characters: Chief Inspector Heat, The Professor
Page Number: 74
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

The Chief Inspector lost himself suddenly in a discreet reflective mood; and the Assistant Commissioner repressed a smile at the fleeting thought that the reputation of Chief Inspector Heat might possibly have been made in a great part by the Secret Agent Verloc.

"In a more general way of being of use, all our men of the Special Crimes section on duty […] have orders to take careful notice of anybody they may see with him. He meets the new arrivals frequently, and afterwards keeps track of them. […] When I want an address in a hurry, I can always get it from him. Of course, I know how to manage our relations. I haven't seen him to speak to three times in the last two years. I drop him a line, unsigned, and he answers me in the same way at my private address."

Related Characters: Chief Inspector Heat (speaker), Mr. Adolf Verloc, The Assistant Commissioner
Page Number: 105
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

It was obviously unreasonable, the mere cry of exaggerated grief. He threw over it the mantle of his marital indulgence. The mind of Mr Verloc lacked profundity. Under the mistaken impression that the value of individuals consists in what they are in themselves, he could not possibly comprehend the value of Stevie in the eyes of Mrs Verloc. She was taking it confoundedly hard, he thought to himself. It was all the fault of that damned Heat. What did he want to upset the woman for? But she mustn't be allowed, for her own good, to carry on so till she got quite beside herself.

Related Characters: Mr. Adolf Verloc, Mrs. Winnie Verloc, Stevie, Chief Inspector Heat
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 185
Explanation and Analysis:
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Chief Inspector Heat Quotes in The Secret Agent

The The Secret Agent quotes below are all either spoken by Chief Inspector Heat or refer to Chief Inspector Heat. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Anarchy, Terrorism, and Corruption Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5 Quotes

[Inspector Heat] could understand the mind of a burglar, because, as a matter of fact, the mind and the instincts of a burglar are of the same kind as the mind and the instincts of a police officer. Both recognise the same conventions, and have a working knowledge of each other's methods and of the routine of their respective trades. […] Products of the same machine, one classed as useful and the other as noxious, they take the machine for granted in different ways, but with a seriousness essentially the same. The mind of Chief Inspector Heat was inaccessible to ideas of revolt. But his thieves were not rebels.

Related Characters: Chief Inspector Heat, The Professor
Page Number: 74
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

The Chief Inspector lost himself suddenly in a discreet reflective mood; and the Assistant Commissioner repressed a smile at the fleeting thought that the reputation of Chief Inspector Heat might possibly have been made in a great part by the Secret Agent Verloc.

"In a more general way of being of use, all our men of the Special Crimes section on duty […] have orders to take careful notice of anybody they may see with him. He meets the new arrivals frequently, and afterwards keeps track of them. […] When I want an address in a hurry, I can always get it from him. Of course, I know how to manage our relations. I haven't seen him to speak to three times in the last two years. I drop him a line, unsigned, and he answers me in the same way at my private address."

Related Characters: Chief Inspector Heat (speaker), Mr. Adolf Verloc, The Assistant Commissioner
Page Number: 105
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

It was obviously unreasonable, the mere cry of exaggerated grief. He threw over it the mantle of his marital indulgence. The mind of Mr Verloc lacked profundity. Under the mistaken impression that the value of individuals consists in what they are in themselves, he could not possibly comprehend the value of Stevie in the eyes of Mrs Verloc. She was taking it confoundedly hard, he thought to himself. It was all the fault of that damned Heat. What did he want to upset the woman for? But she mustn't be allowed, for her own good, to carry on so till she got quite beside herself.

Related Characters: Mr. Adolf Verloc, Mrs. Winnie Verloc, Stevie, Chief Inspector Heat
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 185
Explanation and Analysis: