A Most Wanted Man VI

In the last three chapters of John Le Carré’s A Most Wanted Man, we learn that Brue’s wife is talking about leaving him. Brue contemplates the mess he is in, and arranges written legal assurances that Annabel will not be in trouble for her actions involving Issa. Brue meets Dr. Abdullah, and negotiates a meeting with Issa (wearing a fountain pen fitted with a listening device). Brue thinks about what Lantern told him, “…Just take my word for it, Tommy. Five percent is all you need to know. So tell me who isn’t five percent bad?” (266). Brue feels bad because he’s not an unblemished character himself. Here he is helping the British spy agency entrap a man they say does 95% good ( and only five percent bad).

The meeting between all parties (Brue, Annabel, Issa, and Abdullah) takes place at the bank with many spy agencies monitoring. While electronically transferring Issa’s money to charities, Abdullah does transfer some money to various unknown shipping companies. He says, “Now this one would be very essential for the afflicted of Yemen… If your client is concerned to distribute medical relief throughout the Umma, this is a most efficient means of achieving his objective” (312). Issa did not pick this shipping company (it’s not a charity)s, but goes along with Abdullah choice. The transactions are finished, and the parties leave out the front door of the bank towards a waiting cab. This is when the surprise occurs. Le Carré writes, “But Abdullah had no time to answer, or if he had, Bachmann never heard him. A high-sided white minibus had careered into the forecourt, smashing into Bachmann’s cab, skewing it sideways, starring the side window and crumpling the driver’s door” (318). Five men run out of the van to abduct Abdullah and Issa. It turns out that they are American, and it reflects badly on the American spy agency. It would be better for the U. S. to not abduct the men, and use them to prevent future acts of terrorism. The Germans lose their control of the operation, and we get a taste of spy agencies acting beyond the law like dictators in South American Islands act.

A Most Wanted Man V

This week, the main characters in A Most Wanted Man continue to find themselves in difficult situations. Annabel is forced by German intelligence to follow their directions or face a veiled threat that harm will come to Issa. Brue is forced to sign a legal document obligating him to aid the British intelligence service. During this time, Brue learns that Annabel is in trouble. Also, Le Carré reveals more information about the Lipizzaner accounts. Bachman interviews Frau Ellenberger. She is Edward Brue’s secretary at the time the Lipizzaner accounts were created. We learn about Edward Brue and Tom Fridley’s role in these accounts. (Fridley was the man who set up the Lipizzaner accounts). Ellenberger says, “Mr. Fridley had initially represented himself as some kind of British diplomat… An informal diplomat, if there is such a breed, which I doubt… Later he reinvented himself as a financial consultant… He was a charlatan and that was all he ever was… On the night Mr. Edward returned from that first meeting at the embassy, he outlined the entire arrangement to me… Thereafter, whatever refinements or improvements were proposed invariably followed consultations with Mr. Fridley. Whether in a foreign town, or in Vienna, but well away from the bank, or over the telephone to an artfully disguised form…” (210-211). We know that Fridley is in British intelligence and that Karpov and his cronies dealt with British intelligence to use the bank to hold this ill gotten treasure. As Ellenberger continues she cries, “And now he’s [Fridley] back… Doing it all over again to poor Mr. Tommy, who isn’t half the man his father was…. He’s a Beelzebub. Foreman. This time he called himself Foreman” (211). Apparently the British intelligence agency is back in town to manipulate the bank to do its bidding. This brings up an upsetting reoccurrence for Frau Ellenberger, who struggles with this.

In the next chapter, the story jumps back to Annabel. Annabel reluctantly goes along with German intelligence to introduce Issa to the teachings of Dr. Faisal Abdullah, a respected Islamic scholar living in Germany. Annabel figures out Bachman’s plan. She guesses, “I lure Issa. Then I lure Abdullah. Then you destroy Abdullah. That’s what you call saving innocent lives” (226). German Intelligence believes Abdullah is financing terror with the charity funds he raises. The idea is to use Issa’s money to lure Abdullah in, so they can use Abdullah to track the charity money that feeds terrorism. Then the intelligence agencies can understand the terror networks and how they work. In a meeting of intelligence agencies about this operation, Bachman reveals this plan as ‘Operation Felix’. An agent congratulates Bachman on his successful plan. Le Carré writes, “To Bachmann’s ear, the plaudit sounded like an obituary” (254). Le Carré is hinting that Bachman’s plan for Issa is going to fall apart.

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.