A Most Wanted Man

Life isn't fair. The ending of A Most Wanted Man certainly shows this. Bachmann had everything planned out. Issa would go free and get a German passport, the government would get a Islamist contact who would alert them to any suspicious behavior, and Annabel would be able to return to life as normal. Bachmann tells his assistant "We've got it... the green light. With conditions. We can go ahead" (Carre 255-256). The plans were so elaborate and thought out that it seemed impossible for things to go wrong. But they did. Joint Steering, the group behind the action, pulled out at last minute, saying that they were "postponing" the operation. Then a white van crashed into Bachmann's car, and some men kidnapped Issa and the contact. They were gone, after all the work that had been put into keep them free. The book concludes with Bachmann talking to an American behind the kidnappings. He tells Bachmann "Justice has been rendered...No-crap justice, that kind of justice! Justice with no @?#!#% lawyers around to prevent the course...eye for an eye" (Carre 321). Bachmann thought he was trying to bring about justice by proving Issa's innocence, but this man saw what they were doing as just annoying, that he was delivering justice.

No matter how much planning goes into something, things can always go wrong. Like 20 minutes ago when my blog post disappeared right before I posted it and I was forced to retype it! Anyways, it also happened in In the Time of the Butterflies. Minerva and Mate didn't deserve to be put in prison, but things happened and they ended up there. Life sometimes just throws stuff at you. Does that mean we should stop trying because of the risk of failure? I don't think so, but that is a decision everyone must make for themselves.

A Most Wanted Man

Throughout the novel, Carre experiments with different voices for different characters. Though almost the entire story is told through third person, each chapter focuses on a different character. Sometimes scenes are even repeated to show another side of the incident. When focusing on a character, we can hear their thoughts, which creates many voices. Bachmann (a worker for the German Domestic Intelligence) has an air of athority that is desplayed both through what he says and what he thinks. He tells Annabel "We like to think we can make the weather here" (Carre 188). As the book progresses, we often find Bachmann thinking these same words to himself. He feels that he is capible of doing anything, changing things to make them work for him. Annabel has a much more changing, self doubting voice. She thinks to herself " How come she had sided with them so quickly? What had happened to the rebel in her" (Carre 189). Annabel is not nearly as confident as Bachmann and finds herself always doubting her choices and changing her mind. These differences in voice help to keep the reader focused in a very confusing plot.

The shift in voice throughout both A Most Wanted Man and In the Time of the Butterflies are used for many reasons, beyond focus. In both novels the voice shows us important character traits. We can learn so much about a character's personality by stepping into their shoes and seeing the world through their eyes. It helps explain motivation too. Changes in perspective can also show important details that were hidden to us and the character. Like in ITTB, whenever the sisters are separated, they don't know waht the others are doing. By seeing each girl, we get a fuller perspective of what is happening. For these reasons I believe that in both AMWM and ITTB the change in voice enriches the story in many ways.

A Most Wanted Man

Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. You can think that somebody is cruel, then later see that they have a soft side. Or that someone is a hard core nationalist, when in truth they are just in it for themselves. One such man is Karpov, Issa's father. Born and raised in the former USSR, Karpov rose quickly through the ranks to become a colonel of the red army. He was seen by almost everyone as a die hard communist and nationalist. But in fact, he was the opposite. He started out by taking a Chechnyan mistress. The Chechen and the Russian hated each other. The author comments "the Russian pounding the place [Chechnya] to ashes, and the Chechen returning the compliment whenever they got the chance" (Carre 151). The two groups had be fighting ever since anyone could remember, and there was a mutual hate so strong, that when Karpov's mistress's family found out that she had been with a Russian, she was killed. Karpov was able to rescue her boy, later known as Issa. Along with this disloyalty to the USSR, Karpov did something even worse. As the USSR was crumbling, Karpov started selling secrets to the British. The author tells, "A walk-in red army colonel who'd seen which way the wind was blowing decided to sell off his assets before the Big Crash" (Carre 149). The assets were government secrets. Karpov had never cared about the idealism of communism. Instead he was only concerned about bettering his own situation. Very different than the show he was putting on for the USSR.

It is amazing how different people can be after you get to know them. It can be easy to judge a person at first sight. We do it all of the time. But everybody has a side of them that is hidden until you take the time to get to know them. Of course, there is always the chance that that side is less than desirable. But you will never know unless you get to know a person. Yes I know you aren't going to go up to everyone in the street and say "Hi, my name is...", but don't make any major judgments until you know someone. Who knows? You might have more in common with a person than you thought.

A Most Wated Man

Ever since the beginning of the "war on terror," one major question keeps being raised. Which is more important, defending civil rights or ensuring national security? This question has split Joint Steering ever since its creation only a few years ago. Joint Steering evolved from the idea that the Domestic Intelligence (like our FBI) and Foreign Intelligence (like our CIA) should be joined under one roof, in order to share information. Though the idea was good, putting it into practice didn't work so well. The committee in charge of setting everything up was lead by two men with very different ideas. Michael Axelrod, from Foreign Intelligence, felt that everything in their power should be done to protect civil right. On the other hand Dieter Burgdorf from Domestic Intelligence felt that national security was of utmost importance. This rivalry split the entire organization into two camps. Carre says "Since Burgdorf was from the interior ministry, and Mohr and Keller were employed by the domestic intelligence services, then logically it was to...Burgdorf that they would look for favor... and Bachman was Axelrod's protégé and college, then logically Bachman was Axelrod's vassal heart and soul" (Carre 100). These opinions lead to incooperation. Bachman states about Mohr and Keller "it's two against one, the shinning - white protectors versus one excommunicated black sheep" (Carre 99).

Mohr and Keller saw Bachman's case as a potential threat and wanted to arrest the suspect, and maybe get some brownie points in the eyes of Burgdorf. The two would not listen to Bachman, who said that his case was not as cut and dry as they think, and that he needs more time. Neither side was willing to compromise, which only lead to more trouble and eventually Bachman had to call Axelrod to back up his side, and even then only getting 10 extra days. This inability to compromise without help ultimately hinders both sides, since neither is capable of workin something out so nothing gets done. People need to learn to compromise, even if they have different views, in order to get things done.

A Most Wanted Man

The entire basis for the book A Most Wanted Man revolves around conflict. There is always the external conflict of Muslims and the "war on terror," but there is also conflict within the Muslim religion itself. Melik, a Turkish Muslim living in Hamburg has very different views than the Chechen Muslim, Issa. Melik says "When I came back into the room an hour later, where was it [the Koran]? Lying on the floor. My dad's copy of the Koran and it is lying on the floor. For any decent Muslim, never mind my dad, that's unthinkable" (71). These differences tear apart what should have been a good friendship, and lead them to forget about their similarities. Meliks mother Leyla stops her son, asking "who are you to bad-mouth your brother?" (72). Leyla feels that although the two are not actually brothers, they are united in their faith and they should consider each other as brothers, despite the differences between them. Later in the conversation, Melik does refer to Issa as a brother, and starts to take on the mind set of his mother.

Melik and Issa are a good example of how small differences can mask the similarities between people. Cultural differences have split the world ever since the first humans inhabited the earth. They cause so many conflicts throughout time and all over the globe. The different ideas and goals of these cultures keep people apart, keeping them from seeing that everyone has something much in common with each other. I am not saying that seeing the similarities will necessarily bring world peace, but it is a place to start.