Right and wrong
One of the major themes in the novel is determining what is morally right and what is wrong. In the novel, the reader is presented with two different political views. For a long time, Europeans demonized the Communist regime and hailed the practices exercised in the non-Communist countries. Even though it is clear that the people and the communist countries suffered because of the political view imposed on them, it is not fair either to claim that the other countries behaved in a perfect way. As it is revealed in the novel, countries like England engaged in unethical behavior just to maintain the upper hand. The only difference is that while the Communist regime did everything out in the open, the other countries were more careful about their operations and tried to hide them and make the public believe nothing was happening.
Manipulation
In the novel, the characters play a complicated game through which they manipulate one another. Everyone follows their own selfish need and they do not care who needs to suffer in order for them to reach the result they wanted. The one who controls everyone is Control, the character whose real name does not appear in the novel. He makes the people under his command do what he wants and he also tricks other people into following his every order even though they do not want to. His power of manipulation is so strong that in the end even his enemies do what he wanted them to do without even realizing it. His influential is so powerful that at the end, the reader is unsure whether Control wanted to have Alec killed or not.
Love and connection
In the novel, Alec is the type of character who keeps himself separated from everyone else. Alec makes sure to not make the same mistake many made before him and get himself killed because he got too close to his family members, friends or lovers. In fact, it is unsure whether Alec had any living family or not. What it is sure however is that Alec felt in love with Liz and their relationship made him vulnerable. Before going to Berlin and even before going to prison, Alec made it clear that he did not want Liz to be involved in anything. His reluctance to have Liz in the spotlight is what made her a target for Alec’s enemies and what eventually got her killed. Despite all the negative aspects and the danger of being involved in a relationship, Alec was humanized by his interaction with Liz and it made him appear more human and normal.
