Book Anatomy · The Secret Agent
The Secret Agent: Prose style
17 lenses on prose style for The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10 H11 H12 H13 H14 H15 H16 H17
H1. Readability score per chapter. Count
Flesch reading ease for the whole book is about 65 (higher is easier; 60 to 70 is plain English).
Reading ease per chapter, chapter by chapter
H2. Vocabulary range. Count
8,835 different words. On average 54 in every 100 words are new within a 500 word stretch. 3,946 words appear only once.
H3. Signature words: what this author uses far more than others. Count
inspector, chief, assistant, heat, shop. See the full lens on the book page.
H4. Adverb and adjective rates. Count
About 17.97 words ending in 'ly' and 14.14 likely adjectives per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
'ly' words per 1,000, chapter by chapter
H5. Share of weak verbs such as "was" and "had". Count
'Was', 'were', 'had', 'is' and 'are' make up 3.1% of all words.
H6. Passive voice rate. Count
About 5.9% of sentences use a passive form such as 'was taken'. (rough estimate from word lists)
H7. Variety of sentence openings. Count
The five most common first words start 35% of sentences: he, the, i, it, and.
| First word | Sentences |
|---|---|
| he | 661 |
| the | 579 |
| i | 320 |
| it | 305 |
| and | 264 |
| but | 260 |
| she | 230 |
| you | 175 |
| mr | 163 |
| his | 139 |
H8. Rhythm: how much sentence length varies. Count
Sentence length varies by 0.77 of its mean on average (higher means a more varied rhythm).
Variation per chapter, chapter by chapter
H9. Similes and metaphors: how many, and of what kind. Both
166 likely similes ('like a', 'as ... as'): 1.82 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Ch 1, para 9: Winnie’s mother was a stout, wheezy woman, with a large brown face. She wore a black wig under a white cap. Her swollen legs rendered her inactive. She …
Ch 1, para 9: Winnie’s mother was a stout, wheezy woman, with a large brown face. She wore a black wig under a white cap. Her swollen legs rendered her inactive. She …
Ch 1, para 16: It appeared that Mr Verloc was ready to take him over together with his wife’s mother and with the furniture, which was the whole visible fortune of the …
Ch 2, para 1: Such was the house, the household, and the business Mr Verloc left behind him on his way westward at the hour of half-past ten in the morning. It …
Ch 2, para 1: Such was the house, the household, and the business Mr Verloc left behind him on his way westward at the hour of half-past ten in the morning. It …
Ch 2, para 3: Before reaching Knightsbridge, Mr Verloc took a turn to the left out of the busy main thoroughfare, uproarious with the traffic of swaying omnibuses and trotting vans, in …
Conrad uses similes and metaphors densely throughout, often comparing characters to objects or forces: Verloc as a shadow, the Professor as a pest, Winnie's wedding ring as treasure in a dustbin. Most are dark and dehumanising.
Chapters: Ch 7, Ch 13, Ch 9
He left the scene of his daily labours quickly like an unobtrusive shadow. (Ch 7, para 94)
He passed on unsuspected and deadly, like a pest in the street full of men. (Ch 13, para 57)
the gold circlet of the wedding ring on Mrs Verloc’s left hand glittered exceedingly with the untarnished glory of a piece from some splendid treasure of jewels, dropped in a dust-bin. (Ch 9, para 267)
H10. Senses used: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Both
Share of sense words. sight 51%, sound 29%, touch 17%, taste 2%, smell 0%. (rough estimate from word lists)
| Sense | Words |
|---|---|
| sight | 545 |
| sound | 317 |
| touch | 188 |
| taste | 23 |
| smell | 3 |
Sight dominates: gas-light, shadows, glittering objects. Sound appears in violence and movement. Touch marks key moments: the knife, blood dripping. Smell and taste are absent. Sensory detail serves mood rather than pleasure.
Chapters: Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 9
He saw partly on the ceiling and partly on the wall the moving shadow of an arm with a clenched hand holding a carving knife. (Ch 11, para 123)
Dark drops fell on the floorcloth one after another, with a sound of ticking growing fast and furious like the pulse of an insane clock. (Ch 11, para 128)
Blown to small bits: limbs, gravel, clothing, bones, splinters—all mixed up together. I tell you they had to fetch a shovel to gather him up with. (Ch 9, para 247)
H11. Repetition, lists of three and other patterns. Both
85 lists of three in the pattern 'a, b and c': 0.93 per 1,000 words. (rough estimate from word lists)
Repetition of key phrases marks obsession and dread: Winnie repeats 'he took the boy away to murder him' three times in chapter 11. Lists of three appear in anarchist philosophy debates. Patterns of concealment and revelation structure the plot.
Chapters: Ch 11, Ch 3, Ch 6
This man took the boy away to murder him. He took the boy away from his home to murder him. He took the boy away from me to murder him! (Ch 11, para 64)
All idealisation makes life poorer. To beautify it is to take away its character of complexity—it is to destroy it. (Ch 3, para 1)
Now what is it you’ve got up your sleeve? (Ch 6, para 26)
H12. Old words that may trip modern readers. Count
Old forms that may trip a modern reader: art, whilst, ere, thou, shalt, thy.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| art | 7 |
| whilst | 3 |
| ere | 3 |
| thou | 1 |
| shalt | 1 |
| thy | 1 |
H13. Showing against telling, with examples. AI
Conrad shows character through action and dialogue more than summary. Verloc's laziness is shown through his movements and choices, not stated. Winnie's love for Stevie appears in her protective acts. The bombing's horror is shown through Heat's discovery of scattered remains.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 8, Ch 9
Through the open door of the parlour at the back of the shop Winnie, his sister, glanced at him from time to time with maternal vigilance. (Ch 1, para 16)
She had wept because she was heroic and unscrupulous and full of love for both her children. (Ch 8, para 43)
Blown to small bits: limbs, gravel, clothing, bones, splinters—all mixed up together. I tell you they had to fetch a shovel to gather him up with. (Ch 9, para 247)
H14. How much description comes before action. Both
Description and action are woven together. Conrad rarely pauses for pure scene-setting; instead he describes places as characters move through them or react to them. Chapter 7 shows the shop door as Verloc approaches it, not before.
Chapters: Ch 7, Ch 1, Ch 9
By the side of the front window, encumbered by the shadows of nondescript things, the door, standing ajar, let escape on the pavement a narrow, clear streak of gas-light within. (Ch 7, para 102)
Mr Verloc, going out in the morning, left his shop nominally in charge of his brother-in-law. (Ch 1, para 1)
Such was the house, the household, and the business Mr Verloc left behind him on his way westward at the hour of half-past ten in the morning. (Ch 2, para 1)
H15. Filter words such as "saw", "felt", "heard". Count
Filter words ('saw', 'felt', 'heard' and so on): 5.14 per 1,000 words.
| Word | Times |
|---|---|
| thought | 122 |
| seemed | 111 |
| felt | 73 |
| heard | 61 |
| saw | 40 |
| knew | 35 |
| watched | 18 |
| noticed | 5 |
| realised | 2 |
| wondered | 1 |
H16. Shifts in tone. AI
Tone shifts from domestic mundanity in chapter 1 to political menace in chapter 2, then to horror in chapter 9 when Stevie's death is revealed. Chapter 13 ends in cold philosophical detachment as the Professor walks unmoved through the streets.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 9, Ch 13
Mr Verloc, going out in the morning, left his shop nominally in charge of his brother-in-law. (Ch 1, para 1)
A dynamite outrage must be provoked. I give you a month. The sittings of the Conference are suspended. Before it reassembles again something must have happened here, or your connection with us ceases. (Ch 2, para 131)
Blown to small bits: limbs, gravel, clothing, bones, splinters—all mixed up together. I tell you they had to fetch a shovel to gather him up with. (Ch 9, para 247)
H17. How the comedy works. AI
Comedy is sparse and dark. The Professor's calm assertion of 'force of personality' from a miserable body creates grim irony. Ossipon's robust anarchism contrasted with his cowardice produces bitter humour. Most humour serves to undercut pretension.
Chapters: Ch 4, Ch 12
Force of personality,” said the other, without raising his voice; and coming from the mouth of that obviously miserable organism the assertion caused the robust Ossipon to bite his lower lip. (Ch 4, para 52)
Fasten yourself upon the woman for all she’s worth. (Ch 4, para 123)
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