Question

Do you think physical appearance matters most for a secret agent? Answer giving reasons in the context of the story ‘The Midnight Visitor.

Answer 1

Physical appearance is important for heroes like James Bond who act in movies or plays. They need sophisticated cars, a royal lifestyle to flaunt about. But in reality, a detective or a secret agent is not much different from an ordinary citizen at least in appearance. He is an ordinary person who thinks and acts with extraordinary intelligence. When it comes to the question of survival, sharpness of wit and handsome looks would help a person, the disappointment of Fowler, the journalist is very obvious. The young and romantic writer envisioned mysterious figures in the night, the crack of pistols, etc.

The writer must have cherished the idea of beauties with dark eyes passing on secret notes. But he has witnessed nothing but dull music in a French hotel with a sloppy man who made a prosaic appointment only in a prosaic telephone call. Ausable raises the expectations of both the readers and Fowler when he mentions the important paper he waited which many men and women had risked their lives to possess. The drama that ensues in the room testifies the fact that there is no correlation whatsoever between the sharpness of wit and the physical appearance of a person. Only after Fowler witnesses how Ausable had outwitted Max to choose his own death without moving from his armchair, he realizes the truth.