Primary Source #1
The Graphic published these illustrations with articles on what would, in part, inspire Joseph Conrad’s novel, The Secret Agent. The London paper released the first on the 15th of February and the second on the 24th. The first photograph is an artist’s depiction of the 1894 Greenwich bombing site as the dying terrorist was discovered. The terrorist was brutally mutilated and missing an arm when he was taken to the hospital by a park ranger. He died soon after reaching the hospital, and was later identified as Martial Bourdin, a 26-year-old French anarchist. The second shows a police raid of an anarchist group. The raid took place, but probably did not go as the artist shows. With one anarchist taken to the ground by police while the other members of the group stand by and watch, the newspaper is clearly in favor of police efforts to do away with anarchy.
The audience of these images was all of London. At the time, there was an uneasiness around and suspicion of people who did not belong to traditional political parties, especially radicals. The Graphic published these photos to report on and certainly dramatize events. The first depicts anarchists as being sloppy, clumsy, and maybe even stupid. The second shows anarchist as being hostile, combative maniacs or passive
The audience of these images was all of London. At the time, there was an uneasiness around and suspicion of people who did not belong to traditional political parties, especially radicals. The Graphic published these photos to report on and certainly dramatize events. The first depicts anarchists as being sloppy, clumsy, and maybe even stupid. The second shows anarchist as being hostile, combative maniacs or passive
cowards, while the police are shown as being strong and courageous. In addition, the picture implies that something is being done about the “problem” of anarchists in London.
The Secret Agent is only loosely based on the Greenwich bombing. Bourdin knew what that he was carrying a bomb with the intent to destroy the Observatory; Stevie, the poor boy, had no idea. The other clear difference is that Bourdin survived for a short time after his bomb went off, whereas his fictional counterpart was literally blown to pieces. In the novel, it is unclear how far from the Observatory Stevie is when he trips. Bourdin was clearly far away from the building, which is presumably the Royal Observatory (unfortunately, we can only rely on this artist’s rendition of the events). Conrad’s novel portrays very different organizations than the second photo from The Graphic. The picture shows that both the police and anarchists are organized in their own right. The fictional London police were grossly incompetent and severely oblivious to what what going on around them, whether it be secret anarchist meetings or murder. Conrad stated, after the novel was published, that Verloc, Michaelis, Yundt, and Ossipon were all frauds; the only anarchist in the novel with any integrity was the Professor, whose every appearance was accompanied by empty threats. |