In George J. Lennard’s, “John le Carre” critical assessment of the ending of Little Drummer Girl, he claims that “Charlie can not continue to act in the theater of the real...she can no longer return to the romantic fluff of Western middle class society.” Charlie’s last line in the novel, the theater of the real, are “I am dead” (pp.659), which confirms Lennard’s statement. Charlie, an actress, by nature and craft is a coerced into a scheme to infiltrate a terrorist ring, against her convictions. By playing upon Charlie’s insecurities and her need for acceptance, this scheme forms a kind of moral ambiguity and uncertainness inside Charlie. When it ends, her world is shattered, and she becomes “dead” in a figurative sense.

The theater of the real forces Charlie to give a performance of a lifetime as her own life is at stake. In the beginning Charlie, willing and naive, accepts the script given to her by Joseph. Joseph himself, trains Charlie how to act in this scheme, much like an acting coach trains an inexperienced theatrical student. Along the way, Joseph gives her important pieces of advice such as “stay with the logic of the fiction

Just as Charlie beings to assimilate to the “life of isolation” (pp. 464) that has been created for her by Joseph, Charlie is thrust back into the uncostumed world of the real. As she arrives at her own flat, an old abusive lover, Al contacts her and demands that she “come ‘round now” (pp. 471) significantly showing the reader that Charlie’s character both in the world of real and fiction is equally submissive to the demands of her male counter parts. However, unlike Charlie’s theatrical character, she begins to ask Al questions and stands up to him when she disagrees, creating a paradox to her other self. Upon returning to the Terrorist ring, Charlie now, more than ever finds it easiest to comply with the scripts instructions.

Charlie begins her journey into moral ambiguity with the death of Michel, a Palestinian terrorist. Following her script carefully, Charlie infiltrates the terrorist ring, convincing them that she was Michel’s lover. Charlie gives an outstanding “controlled but deeply felt performance”(pp. 420), as tears stream down her face and screams “you bastards, Fascist cheats, who killed my darling lover in the theater of the real” (pp. 421). The fact that Charlie actually refers to herself as a character in a play shows that Charlie has not yet changes costumes to fit the Palestinians believes and thus conflict of her moral ambiguity has not yet arrived.

Joseph and the Israelites begin to take action precisely at the same time Charlie makes her complete conversion. Charlie has become so involved with her character that her true self has been lost along the way. Actions Charlie never would have done, are now done by her new self; as thus she is transformed from a pure figure to a terrorist participant in bombings under the guise of Imogen. The novel comes to an abrupt halt when her new life is shattered as her Israeli counter parts quickly infiltrate her new life and kill her new lover Khalil. It is in his death, witnessed by Charlie that a first moral certainty arises. In the midst of the chaos taking place, Charlie notices the Khalil’s hands: one is gloved in leather, a false skin– a costume, while the other is real. Significantly, Charlie realizes perhaps she was not the only one playing a character in the theater of the re

Some topics in this essay:
Joseph Charlie, Significantly Charlie, South Africa, Drummer Girl, Charlie Joseph, Michel Palestinian, Actions Charlie, Joseph Joseph, Joseph Israelites, Le Carre, moral ambiguity, theater real, charlie’s character, world real, theatrical character, terrorist ring, pp 571, little drummer girl, charlie adopted, little drummer, changes costumes, conflict moral ambiguity, charlie changes costumes,