Spies have many predicaments that arise different issues in their lives. Such issues as personal life issues, ability to trust, and loyalty and betrayal problems play a huge part in the way a spy can carry on their lives. Focusing in on the issues regarding loyalty and betrayal, we can see that in the novel, “Cause for Alarm” by Eric Ambler, the main character Nick Marlow Encounters many problems regarding these spy problems. Marlow is involved in a few different parties and with the variety of involvement comes with vast issues regarding who and what he is actually loyal to, and whom he is betraying in regards to his actions that he takes throughout the novel. One of the early loyalty issues we come across through this novel is when Marlow decides to take the job of going to Italy and selling the machine parts to the enemies of his home country of England. To some it would be viewed as betraying your country by aiding the enemy with their munitions processing. By the Italian government have a huge hand in buying Marlow’s product, he is helping out the enemy and he is in a large state of betrayal. Marlow insists that by doing what he is doing is just his job, and he has no moral or political positioning in what he does, just simply that he is doing it because he is doing what his employer has asked him to do. Marlow states his loyalty to his employer by saying “ My company purchases my loyalty by paying me to represent it,”(95)
This suggests that Marlow is bluntly showing loyalty to his employer by only just doing the job that he has been sent to do, regardless of the buyer. The company that Marlow works for is mainly concerned about continuing the good sales to the Italian government after Ferning’s sudden death in the beginning of the novel. Pelcher and Fitch seem to be just interested in selling the manufactured parts, regardless of whether they are ‘betraying’ the country of England or not by selling them to the Italians. At the same time, Marlow betrays his employer by keeping his deal with Vagas to himself and the fact in general that he is selling numbers to a client’s ‘enemy’, even though the figures were false.
In a more personal aspect, Marlow also has trouble with loyalties to his fiancé, Claire. He is not very often honest with her in his letters that he is writing. He hides details and keeps secrets so that she will not have to worry about what he gets involved in throughout the novel. Although Ambler tells us that there is tampering with their letters back and forth, noticed by Claire in one of her letters, “ Well, dear, in your little Miss Sherlock’s opinion, the envelope was steamed open after that.”(69) Marlow is betraying Claire’s trust with himself and his loyalty to her. Marlow only feels as if he is protecting her from worrying of what he is getting involved in, which essentially permits the neglect of information to Claire. Also, even though Claire is not being told what is going on exactly with Nick, she is smart enough to understand what he is doing and she is also able to read in between the lines of his letters to get a better knowledge of what’s really going on between the Nick and his work.
Claire is not the only person that Marlow shares a personal relationship with. Zaleshoff also places a significant role in both the novel as well as Marlow’s life. We know that Zaleshoff is a spy himself, but where his country of loyalty is at is a question. He claims to Marlow that he is an American overseas on business, but we quickly find out that Zaleshoff is practicing espionage and he could be doing so for the Americans, Russians, or both; leaving a huge question in where Zaleshoff’s country of loyalty was and also where he betrayal was present. Ambler does a great job by hinting subtly how Zaleshoff is a Russian spy; one clear example is when Zaleshoff is talking to the men in the train car with the use of the word “comrade”, “Do you mind if we sit down comrades?”(232)
Marlow seems to place a bit of loyalty towards Zaleshoff as a person as well. When Marlow is uncertain what road to take, he goes to Zaleshoff for aid and more often than not, trusts Zaleshoff to have the right answers for Marlow’s well being and advancement into his actions through the novel. Ambler shows us that Marlow believes in Zaleshoff especially throughout their escape of Italy to get Marlow back home by stating,
Looking back now on those days with Zaleshoff one thing makes me marvel above all else- my complete and unquestioning belief in Zaleshoff’s superior powers of endurance. It was always Zaleshoff who coaxed me into make a further effort when no further effort seemed possible.
Still yet, Marlow cannot completely trust Zaleshoff because he knows that Zaleshoff is a spy as well, and could be using him, although it seems as if Marlow’s well being is more of a personal obligation of Zaleshoff. Ambler hints this towards us when he tells us that Zaleshoff was never involved with Ferning, showing us that it wasn’t Zaleshoff’s position of duty to watch over the employee of the shell factory from potential harms.
It seems to us that Zaleshoff has some sympathies towards Marlow and maybe some moral obligations to aid his exit of the country safely by accompanying him through the journey and guiding his way throughout the novel. Here Zaleshoff is showing some sympathy towards Marlow disregarding his own safety to assist him.
On the other end of the spectrum, the relationship between Marlow and General Vagas is not nearly as intimate and loyal as Marlow is to Zaleshoff. Marlow seems to not appreciate Vagas from the get go, and is very reluctant to take Vagas up on the offer that he proposes of selling information to Vagas in order to “help” his country. The loyalty and betrayal between Vagas and Marlow is as thick as mud. Vagas is anything but loyal to Marlow, while he tries to show that he is. Marlow finds out from Zaleshoff that Vagas is not a Yugo-Slav, but rather a Nazi and a German spy, checking up on Italy to make sure that the Italians are telling Germany the truth with their munitions purchases. At the same time, Marlow is not loyal to Vagas in a few different ways. He cooks the books that he sends to Vagas, so he is betraying his word on what Vagas had asked him to do. He is always confiding in Zaleshoff what Vagas is doing and going about, therefore he’s selling Vagas’ little loyalty he does give Marlow to Zaleshoff. The relationship between Vagas and Marlow is in no way loyal, as they are both betraying each other very adamantly. Ambler clearly shows us of these betrayals often in the novel, especially through Marlow’s perspectives.
In “Cause for Alarm”, Marlow learns a great deal about the art of espionage and the acts of loyalty and betrayal. Marlow finds that spying is very messy and it takes a special person to be able to be involved in the art of espionage for a life career. Through his trials and tribulations in the novel, our spy, Marlow learns a lot about how to trust people. He finds you cannot always be loyal and you need to know when betrayal is necessary.