"We do disagreeable things so that ordinary people here and elsewhere can sleep safely in their beds at night.’’
Alec was a spy during the Second World War and he continued to be one after it ended as well. During the time when the Berlin Wall was constructed, Alec served the British Empire but was called back after many of the spies working under him were being killed. In London, Alec meet with Control with whom he talked about the strategies used by the British Secret Service in the period following the war. Control let it be understood that they got involved in strategies that could be seen as being questionable. To make their actions more acceptable, Control and other people in charge let it be understood that the only reason they act like that is because they want to protect the people and thus they feel entitled to react in the way they did.
"You're a fanatic who doesn’t want to convert people, and that's a dangerous thing.’’
Slowly but surely, Liz gets closer and closer to Alec and the two become almost lovers. Even though Alec does not tell her about his mission or about his spy role, Liz is able to tell that something is going one with Alec. She tries to find out exactly what but is unable because Alec is reluctant to reveal anything about himself. Because of this, Liz calls him a fanatic. The reason why she calls him a fanatic is because even though he has clear beliefs and ideas, he refuses to share them with anyone and this makes him dangerous because the people around him are unsure about his motifs and about his true intentions.
"Only very rarely, as now, going to bed that evening, did he allow himself the dangerous luxury of admitting the great lie he lived.’’
Alec became the person he was asked to become without even thinking about it. Alec abandoned his old self and became a drunkard who could not be trusted and a person who was always asking for money and disappointing those around him. At times, it became hard for Alec to distinguish between what was reality and the role he was supposed to play. This apparent inability to detach himself is what made Alec be an extraordinary spy who could fool anyone about his motives and about his true self.
