Greene further directs towards the moral and psychological treatment of the nature of betrayal and loyalty. The plot exposes that alienated man in Castle, who looks beyond betrayal for his true identify. Greene thus brings up the question of loyalty and betrayal. Though not a simplistic divide, there is a hairline difference between the two. And thus we ask the question – “to what constitutes loyalty and what identifies betrayal?” because loyalty to one leads to betrayal of other. Thus, the “virtue of disloyalty” constitutes the thematic core of The Human Factor.
For instance, Castle’s loyalty to the Communist, Carson (who smuggles Sarah and Sam out of Africa, thus helping Castle and his family to freedom) makes Castle a double agent. This debt collected by him must be paid for and so his moral obligation leads him to disloyalty. So there is a question of loyalty and betrayal to son and wife and to the cause of nation. But this careful betrayal merely leads to misery for them all.
Thus is the complex, entangled concept of loyalty and betrayal - many people betraying one another because of their commitments. On the other hand, those who remain loyal to Britain, in the Greenian world are the active betrayers. Such is the dilemma that sensitive people like Hargreaves are confronted by. Even characters like Dr. Percival and Cornelius Muller (South African Policeman) have no real loyalties and so are incapable of treachery. Infact Percival is polished but ruthless and so he’s more of a spy than anyone else and Muller is a man “without prejudice and without an ideal”.
Hence Castle in his disloyalty, is at war with such people as Percival and Muller, who govern the world. So his disloyalty cannot be completely condemned, as it’s his defiance against that system which dehumanizes those who do not belong.
Greene crafts Castle’s character as a cautious man because of the uncertainties of his life. His treason is justifiable on personal and emotional grounds. Moreover, Castle doesn’t share his deepest grief even with his wife, only because he does not want to shift his burden onto others. The kind of commitment arising out of love at the cost of patriotic commitments is well depicted here. So we see in this Greenian novel, a marital relationship suggesting intimacy and joy tinged with melancholy (sadness).
Amidst all his tensions and frustrations, it is with Sarah that Castle can relax from the sufferings imposed upon him. But this is quite ironic, as Sarah who provides him with this kind of mental security, is the very cause of his insecurity, the very reason for his deception, not only as a spy but also as a husband who carries the entire burden. Thus we see a kind of distancing in the very intimacy. Now this gives rise to the question – is this his loyalty or disloyalty to his wife?
To this we could say that the kind of intimacy they share, is such that they have created a world, a country of just the three of them and it is this country that Castle has never betrayed. As Sarah says, on learning about Castle’s betrayal of England:
“We have our own country. You and I and Sam. You’ve never betrayed that country, Maurice.”
This is Sarah, one of Greene’s dignified women character whose very appealing. Her loyalty to her black son is her betrayal to her husband and she is continuously haunted by this dilemma of loyalty and disloyalty.
This theme of betrayal interwoven in this spy drama engulfs other secret agents like Daintry as well. They are secret agents, not only alone in their professional but also in their private lives. In this sense, Daintry and Castle are mirror images of each other, but his misery is not that of Castle’s, that makes him challenge the system. But it’s his sense of burden of Davis’s death, which makes him want to retire. Greene humanizes Daintry’s character and so allows a kind of bond to develop between the two. However, Daintry does not betray the system despite the fact that he felt sympathetic towards Castle (who confesses to Daintry) because his sense of duty creeps and this holds him back. Therefore, we see a sense of loyalty to a system, which actually has given him nothing but loneliness. Thus, this theme of alienation creeps up in Greene’s novel capturing most of his characters. It is the isolation of these characters that have lost their country, belief, and their own identity in a world, as corrupt and unnecessarily cruel. This germ of corruption contaminates our protagonist, Castle, who in his loyalty to his wife and son betrays his profession.
Moreover, obeying this inner need leads to betrayal and death of others, which is significant through Davis’s death. Here it is imperative that Castle continues to send messages to Soviet Union despite knowing that Davis is in danger. This is Castle’s commitment to those who helped his wife and son, but a betrayal to his own friend Davis.
Thus, through the unscrambling of the narrative we come across relationships essential for the human being, but not any kind of glamour is associated with it.
The recurring theme of betrayal ascends as the narrative move forward. Greene makes his characters enter into that tunnel at the end of which there is no light. Castle too faces this type of endless darkness deepening at each stage. His misconception that Mr. Halliday’s son is his letterbox, despite the fact that it was Mr. Halliday who was the agent is a truth untold to him till the very end. This is indicative of the reality of life that one must face. Those very people, for whom Castle was disloyal to his own nation and service, betrayed him by holding back this truth. So again the question - what is loyalty? Who should one trust?
Furthermore, Castle’s disguise at the time of his escape is like his betrayal of himself. He moves away from reality even more and this extends his confusion. Moreover, this theme of disguise lays emphasis on Castle being a double. This kind of deceit is what also entraps Sarah, as she lives with her mother-in-law.
Castle’s mother’s sense of loyalty too occurs after her knowledge about her son being a traitor. Through this characterization of Castle’s mother, Greene represents that conventional sense of loyalty, which sends so many sons to war. Thus using human life as fodder. It is this notion of loyalty that makes Mrs. Castle look at her son as a traitor and her loyalty to her son makes her look after his wife and child.
Betrayal and loyalty governing the lives of so many reaches the peak in this novel when Castle alienated in Moscow learns from Borris that they too had a deliberate double agent who sent the information back and this was the cause of Castle’s plight. This final betrayal is Castle’s tragedy and the realization dawns upon him that he was a mere ‘pawn in the game of espionage’. A feeling of having done so much for nothing and the fruitlessness of all the sufferings he endures, is a pitiful scene.
Hence this theme of loyalty and betrayal is like the human condition, very paradoxical. Therefore, Greene creates Castle not as an easy martyr or hero, but makes us see beyond the plot, giving us a deeper and fuller understanding of the human factor. Castle is in a complicated situation where he cannot, must not and will not free himself even though he can. Despite his decision of sending in the last report and the very indication of ‘it is all over’ seen through his choice of lines in the book ‘War and Peace’ (used for coding):
“………..But I have lifted my hand and let it fall.”
Yet he continues with the leaks. He is entrapped in this vicious circle, which has no opening, no escape. More so because of his deep sense of loyalty and commitment to the communists that compels him to continue, so his desire for freedom is pitiful.
Castle’s search for a magical city called “Peace of Mind” is a search never-ending and so even at the end of all his plight he gains no fulfillment but lives a new life, once again engulfed in the emptiness of Moscow.
However, the real betrayer is time. This Greene evokes by constantly relating Castle’s past to his present and this makes the tale of espionage a medium for a statement about ageing. It is Castle’s past that intrudes upon his present and his identification with his wife under the “colour bar” in the past today imposed upon him sending him into this cruel exile, away from his family.
Hence, as the title suggests, Greene here does not give a mixture of thriller plots alone, but here we also see the reversal of the norm of a typical spy story and a question – what is the norm? And who is the traitor? Is Castle’s act, in the sense of the norm, that of loyalty or disloyalty? Therefore, Greene deals with the complexities and contradictions of the human nature, imposed upon by the inner and outer world, with the thoughts and instincts aroused in his heroes, the emotions experienced and their fears and hopes. Greene’s characters thus grow throughout the novel, though their lives seem to be at a standstill.
Thus are the pleasures of Greene’s plotting, character development and the consequences of action in the fiction mingled with his creative work of imagination for Greene betrayal is a part of a man’s character and is not a crime. Thus stating that Maurice Castle is a good man in a repulsive world, though a betrayer.
So to conclude as John Keats says:
“How strange it is that man on earth should roam,
And lead a life of woe, but not forsake
His rugged path; nor dare he view alone
His future doom”
