The Secret Agent · Character

Mr. Verloc

A shopkeeper so unobtrusive he seems to have no interior life at all, which is precisely what makes him useful to the embassy that pays him.

major

Also known as Verloc, the silent Mr. Verloc, the wise and good Mr. Verloc, the late Mr. Verloc

First appearance: The Secret Agent

As a major figure in The Secret Agent, Mr. Verloc is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Mentioned indirectly as part of the tale's subject; Conrad refers to telling Winnie Verloc's story.

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Verloc sells dubious photographs and sundries from a Soho storefront while quietly serving as a paid informer, a man whose entire method is to be overlooked. His marriage, his household, and his anarchist acquaintances all function as camouflage, and he treats them with the same dull, proprietary patience he gives his stock. When his handler demands a spectacular outrage, Verloc's comfortable inertia collides with the violence he has spent years merely talking about, and the novel's middle turns on how badly a man of his temperament handles a real bomb.

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See Mr. Verloc in The Secret Agent

Character Web

13 connections

A slice of how Mr. Verloc sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Professional
Family
Rivalry

Character groups

Protagonist
Anarchist circle and victims
Investigators and theoretical figures

+8 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point

In this scene, the emotional and psychological peak occurs as the Professor reveals his nihilistic detachment…

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Relationships

Comrade Ossipon
professional · negative
Ossipon interacts frequently with Verloc as a fellow anarchist and co-conspirator, though… How this plays out →
Stevie
family · negative
Chief Inspector Heat
rivalry · negative
Mrs. Verloc
family · negative
Mr. Vladimir
professional · negative
Mother
family · ambivalent
Adolf
professional · ambivalent
Michaelis
professional · ambivalent
Karl Yundt
professional · negative
Chief Inspector Heat
rivalry · negative
Comrade Ossipon
professional · negative
Ossipon interacts frequently with Verloc as a fellow anarchist and co-conspirator, though… How this plays out →
Stevie
family · negative

Comrade Ossipon
Ossipon interacts frequently with Verloc as a fellow anarchist and co-conspirator, though with underlying suspicion and manipulation.
Stevie
Verloc is Stevie's brother-in-law and guardian, exploiting Stevie's innocence for his own anarchist schemes.
Chief Inspector Heat
Heat pursues Verloc as a suspect in the bombing plot, embodying the conflict between law enforcement and anarchism.
Mrs. Verloc
Verloc and his wife Winnie have a strained, transactional marriage built on convenience and secrecy, ending in betrayal.
Mr. Vladimir
Vladimir, as Verloc's handler at the embassy, pressures and manipulates Verloc into carrying out the bombing.
Mother
Verloc's mother-in-law lives with the family and is quietly manipulative, sacrificing her own comfort for Stevie's sake.
Adolf
Adolf is Verloc's assistant or employee at the shop, involved in the anarchist network.
Michaelis
Michaelis is a fellow anarchist and frequent visitor to Verloc's home, sharing revolutionary ideas but little trust.
Karl Yundt
Yundt is an aging, bitter anarchist who associates with Verloc in the revolutionary circle.
Chief Inspector Heat
Heat pursues Verloc as a suspect in the bombing plot, embodying the conflict between law enforcement and anarchism.
Comrade Ossipon
Ossipon interacts frequently with Verloc as a fellow anarchist and co-conspirator, though with underlying suspicion and manipulation.
Stevie
Verloc is Stevie's brother-in-law and guardian, exploiting Stevie's innocence for his own anarchist schemes.

Relationship notes

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See Mr. Verloc in The Secret Agent

In the story

Mr. Verloc appears across 14 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Author's Note
Mentioned indirectly as part of the tale's subject; Conrad refers to telling Winnie Verloc's story.
The Secret Agent
Introduced as the proprietor of a shabby Soho shop and a secret agent; described as indolent, corpulent, and domestically inclined.
I
A seller of shady wares, a protector of society, and a domesticated man who married Winnie and took in her mother and brother.
II
Remains silent and thoughtful during dinner, then leaves for the Embassy where he is berated by Mr. Vladimir.
Chapter III
Lies awake, anxious about his meeting with Vladimir, the small takings, and the burden of providing for Stevie and his mother-in-law; dreads sleeplessness and darkness.
Chapter IV
Revealed by the Professor as the person who obtained the bomb for the Greenwich Park explosion; discussed as a former comrade and shopkeeper.
Chapter VI
Mentioned as a spy in the pay of a foreign government; lives over his shop with his wife and mother-in-law.
Chapter VII
His shop is under observation; he is described as a secret agent and former spy for Baron Stott-Wartenheim.
Chapter VIII
Mr. Verloc is silent and morose at home, wearing his hat indoors and barely speaking, consumed by thoughtfulness.
Chapter IX
Returns home trembling and rattling his teeth after the bomb outrage, speaks of emigrating, and shows unusual agitation and enigmatical emotion.
Chapter X
Mentioned as the man who has been arrested and who implicates Mr. Vladimir.
Chapter XI
Mr. Verloc, accepting his fate with fatalism, tries to reassure Winnie about their future while revealing his anger toward Mr. Vladimir and his own sense of loyalty and sacrifice.
XII
Lying dead on the sofa with a knife in his chest, his body and hat become ominous objects that shock Ossipon.
XIII
Mentioned as having been murdered by the police, his secret-service money now inherited by Ossipon.

Chapter companion notes

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See Mr. Verloc in The Secret Agent

See Mr. Verloc in Author's Note