John le Carré (penname of former MI5 and MI6 analyst, David Cornwell) once told an interviewer that “as a rough principle I always begin with one character and then perhaps two, and they seem to be in conflict with each other” (Barber). Le Carré expands this prescription in
Our Kind of Traitor(2010) where he presents five main characters—each at pivotal moments in their lives—whose motives conflict with those of the other characters and create a complex narrative. The novel has no single traitor, nor a lone faithless instigator. Rather, the main characters’ altruistic acts betray patriotism and brotherhood, endanger family and lovers, and lead to the novel’s moral predicaments. To accomplish this interplay, le Carré shifts time frames, locations, and verbal styles to…
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Citation: Beene, LynnDianne. "Our Kind of Traitor". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 June 2022 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=30842, accessed 19 April 2024.]
