The Secret Agent is a novel by Joseph Conrad around which you follow the life of Winnie Verloc through the events of her husband Adolf Verloc and his fellow revolutionaries. When reading this novel you are immersed in the book by Conrad's use of detail and vocabulary. There are so many details and hidden messages that you have to wonder if Conrad had a conscious intention of putting all the details in himself or if this kind of detail and depth came naturally to him. In type, light is a significant part of the scene but is incredibly hard to create on a flat page. In The Secret Agent, Joseph Conrad uses light to focus the readers attention on characters that are important to the story. .
In the novel the light is reaching out towards characters in the novel in order to show the reader who has importance to the story. "The light thrown down by the shade fell dazzlingly on the white pillow sunk by the weight of her head reposing with closed eyes and dark hair done up in several plaits for the night." (34) In this quote the light from the outside is peering in through the shade onto Winnie's pillow. When reading this the reader is drawn along the trail of the light to Willie, as she lays on the pillow and puts a "spotlight" on her. This shows us that Winnie is important to the novel and also the light is coming in from the outside. Another thing the reader knows about Winnie is that she does not like to leave the house often, for it is not safe for her on the outside and that she doesn't belong there. This beam of light from the outside is a sort of beckoning to her that she should travel to the outside, maybe to try and learn more of what is really going on around her, but in this scene she is asleep and ignores this message.
Another character in the novel that Conrad tries to focus upon is the assistant commisioner. In the novel when he is attempting to blend in while walking down the streets he dresses himself in a manner that would positively reflect a foreigner.
