Essay Questions

Describe the state of the Soviet Union as show in Agent 6.

The narrator has shown how life in the Soviet Union was in the novel by showing the inner lives of various characters. He has brought out the following about the country, the government was a dictatorship that denied people their free will, poverty, the income gap between the rich and the poor and how the government covered up the state of the country.

The citizens were not allowed to have free will or even freedom of thought. Their diaries were seized and read to ascertain whether they were critics of the government. Polina's diary was analyzed, and she was executed because she had drawn The Statue of Liberty in her diary.

Show how love influenced various characters in the novel.

Grigori was on the path to become an agent when he fell in love with Polina who was an artist under investigation. His love for her made him make contact with her and erase the picture of The Statue of Liberty that she had drawn in her diary. These acts greatly jeopardized his career.

Agent Leo Demikov was at the peak of his career as an agent with great promise to higher posts when he met Raisa. She was a teacher and she made him change his career. He switched from being a high-earning government official to a poor factory worker.

Describe the state of the Soviet Union as show in the novel.

Tom Rob Smith presents a portrayal of the Soviet Union during the late 1940s and 1950s as a totalitarian state where the government has complete control over all aspects of life, including the media and the judicial system. The Stalinist regime is depicted as corrupt and brutal, with those in positions of power willing to do whatever it takes to maintain their control, including committing murder and repression of its citizens. The novel also illustrates the impact of Stalinist policies on the population, such as widespread poverty, scarcity of goods, and political repression.

The novel also illustrates how the Stalinist system can corrupt even the most loyal and dedicated of its servants, such as Leo Demidov. Through Demidov's character, the novel explores the theme of power and corruption and the ways in which those in positions of authority will stop at nothing to maintain their power and control over others.

Additionally, the novel also shows the surveillance state where people are afraid to speak out and trust is hard to come by. Citizens are constantly monitored by the government, and any form of dissent is met with severe punishment, often resulting in exile to Siberia. The state controls the media and the judicial system, making it difficult for the truth to be uncovered and for justice to be served.