Ashe Character Analysis in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

A low-level Communist spy working in London, Ashe makes contact with Leamas as soon as he gets out of prison, then introduces him to his superior, Sam Kiever, who, in turn, brings Leamas to Holland to meet with the Russian interrogator Peters. Ashe also goes to Liz’s branch meetings of the Communist party, takes Liz out to coffee afterwards, and asks her questions about herself and her love life.

Ashe Quotes in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

The The Spy Who Came in From the Cold quotes below are all either spoken by Ashe or refer to Ashe. 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:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Penguin Books edition of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold published in 2013.

She had reservations about Germans, that was true. She knew, she had been told, that West Germany was militarist and revanchist, and that East Germany was democratic and peaceloving. But she doubted whether all the good Germans were on one side and all the bad ones on the other. And it was the bad ones who had killed her father. Perhaps that was why the Party had chosen her—as a generous act of reconciliation. Perhaps that was what Ashe had had in mind when he asked her all those questions. Of course—that was the explanation. She was suddenly filled with a feeling of warmth and gratitude towards the Party. They really were decent people and she was proud and thankful to belong.

Related Characters: (speaker),

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 145

Explanation and Analysis:

Ashe Character Timeline in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

The timeline below shows where the character Ashe appears in The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...driver’s license in it, he leaves it on a bench and walks away. A man (Ashe) takes the package and calls to him, but Leamas ignores him. The man runs up... (full context)

Ashe describes the times that he and Leamas spent together in Berlin. They go to lunch,... (full context)

Leamas watches Ashe leave, then walks around, drinks coffee, jumps on a bus, catches a train, then another... (full context)

Leamas goes to lunch with Ashe the next day, arriving unshaved and smelling of whisky. Ashe gives him a check and... (full context)

Ashe brings Leamas back to his apartment, which is generic and hardly decorated. Ashe says Leamas... (full context)

Ashe returns with Sam Kiever, an older man with a central European accent. They go out... (full context)

...Branch Secretaries there. She thinks her name must have been suggested by that “queer” man Ashe from Cultural Relations, who had taken her out to coffee and asked her so many... (full context)

...asking him again and again. Mundt asks Leamas where he went after his lunch with Ashe, but Leamas says he cannot remember, and begs to be allowed to go lie down,... (full context)

...not seen him since leaving prison. Karden asks Leamas where he went after lunching with Ashe, suggesting that Leamas went to Smiley’s house. Leamas says he probably went to a pub,... (full context)

...He is sure that he was not followed to Smiley’s house after the lunch with Ashe, and the story about his having stolen money from the Circus, which Mundt had mentioned... (full context)