Chapter 3 Summary

Leamas leaves the London intelligence community after an embezzlement scandal. Everyone is very concerned about his quick fall from power. Leamas enters a series of low-level jobs, including managing a glue factory and selling encyclopedias door to door. He fails at everything and becomes known by his neighbors as dirty, drunk, and unable to manage his life in the world.

Chapter 3 Analysis

Leamas' fall from grace is meant to be very public and it is. Beginning with the British intelligence community itself, Leamas presents a well-rounded portrayal of himself. The ease and efficiency with which he creates this impression of himself shows his spy training. At the same time, however, this incident provides the first foreshadowing of the complicated nature of the relationship between Leamas the man and Leamas the spy. At this early stage, the people that Leamas has worked alongside for...