A Most Wanted Man IV

This week in A Most Wanted Man, Le Carré continues with the dispute over Issa. Bachman still wants Issa to help the German intelligence find terrorists. Annabel is summoned by a man to answer some questions. The man turns out to be Bachman, and he wants to know all about Issa. Le Carré writes, “What did you do with Issa Karpov after you left the house of Mrs. Leyla Oktay at four o’clock on Saturday morning? So they knew. They knew some, but not all. They knew the outside but not the inside. Or so she must believe. If they knew the inside, Issa would be on the flight to Petersburg by now, like Magomed, waving his manacled fists from the cabin window” (171). This shows Annabel’s unwillingness to accept the truth. She lies through her teeth to save Issa, even though he may be a terrorist. She doesn’t want to know how much Bachman knows because she may be close to failure. I believe that she doesn’t want to see a refugee sent back to torture again. After her confrontation with Bachman, Annabel leaves to visit Issa. She wants to hide Issa, so he won’t be deported. He asks, “To hide me Annabel… Will you be there also?” She replies, “I’ll be visiting. Often. I’ll take you there and I’ll visit you whenever I can” (180). This quote shows Issa’s trust in Annabel. He knows she will help him, and that seems to put all of his confidence in her. I feel like this is similar to Night by Elie Wiesel. In both situations, there are characters being persecuted. I don’t think Issa’s case is as severe as what Wiesel had to go through, but Issa (as an innocent) is still tortured and hurt by other people.

After Annabel leaves Issa, three policewomen intercept her and bring her to an unknown location. There, she discovers that Bachman knows of her lies to him, and that she must help Bachman or she’ll cause many people to go to jail. She compares her situation to a memory she has of her unbreakable horse she owned. Le Carré writes, “When Moritz was delivered, he kicked the groom, kicked a hole in his stall and broke his way into the paddock. But the next morning when Annabel in trepidation went out to him, he strolled towards her, lowered his head for the halter and became her stable forevermore. He’d had a bellyful of opposition and wanted somebody else to take charge of his problems. So was that what she had done now? Chucked in the towel and said, ‘All right damn you, have me,” the way she’d said it to men a couple of times…” (190). This is a turning point in the story. Up until then, Annabel seems like an unbreakable character. She realizes that there is no way to help Issa without helping Bachman. Also, if she doesn’t help Bachman, then more people will be hurt. After she tells Bachman and his assistant everything she knows, the assistant brings Annabel into a bedroom. As the assistant says goodnight to her, she thinks of something a client said to her. She recalls, “If I sleep, I shall return to prison, Annabel” (191). Annabel is also comparing herself to her client throughout this chapter. This is the last thing she remembers before she goes to sleep. Annabel feels like a prisoner because she is being forced to helping Bachman against her will.