Jim Prideaux
Encyclopedia
Jim Prideaux is a fictional Intelligence officer
in the novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
by John le Carré
. Although his character and actions are central to the plot, they are mostly revealed in sequences of dialogue and flashbacks, or are indirectly referred to.
, although he never went there, attending school in Prague
instead. He later went to Oxford University
where he was best known as a sportsman. He attracted the attention of fellow student Bill Haydon
, who had already been recruited into the Secret Intelligence Service
(SIS). Although Haydon's interests were artistic, his and Prideaux's characters complemented each other. It was sometimes wondered in later years whether their relationship was more than purely intellectual.
Prideaux served with distinction in the SIS during the Second World War
. After a brief spell of teaching after the war, he rejoined the Service. During the Cold War
he often worked undercover in Communist Czechoslovakia, being fluent in the Czech language
. He is described as a "man of action" and a "plain field man who lets others do the thinking."
s through on-the-spot bribery or blackmail, and even kidnappings. He was summoned to a secret meeting by Control, the anonymous head of the "Circus", the London Headquarters of the SIS. Control was convinced that one of the top-level officers in the Circus was a Soviet
mole
, and believed that a Czech General, disillusioned after the crushing of the Prague Spring
, had offered to reveal the mole's identity. In an operation which Control named "Testify", Prideaux was to meet the General near Brno
. Control and Prideaux devised a series of codenames for the identity of mole using the children's rhyme Tinker, Tailor
, hence the book's title.
Soon after he arrived in Czechoslovakia, Prideaux became aware that he was under surveillance, though he assumed that this was because the false identity he was using was "blown", having already been used. He evaded his shadowers by a dash through several crowded shops but when he arrived at the General's house outside Brno, he was ambushed by Russian troops and shot in the back while attempting to flee. After being hastily treated, he was subjected to a gruelling interrogation. Expecting to divert the interrogators by a series of deceptions, he was astounded to find that they already knew of his meeting with Control and its purpose, which quickly broke his resistance.
. Finally, he was told by section chief Toby Esterhase
to forget everything, including Operation Testify and "Tinker, Tailor", and dismissed from the Service with an extra £1000 gratuity. He acquired an Alvis car and became a supply teacher
at a preparatory school in the West Country
, living in a caravan in the school grounds.
Despite his injury he kept fit through a gruelling exercise regime. His tough, soldierly bearing led to him being nicknamed "Rhino" by the pupils. He nevertheless remained nervous, continually checking that he was not being followed or that his mail was not being intercepted by a variety of counter-surveillance
techniques. After he became aware that enquiries had been made about him, he was approached by George Smiley
, the former Deputy Head of the Service. Although Prideaux was wary at first, he eventually related the full details of Operation Testify and his capture and interrogation. He described some of his interrogators, one of whom Smiley recognised as Karla
, a legendary Soviet intelligence officer who had responsibility for running "moles" in various Western governments and agencies. Smiley also deduced that Prideaux visited Haydon before departing on Operation Testify, though Prideaux denied divulging any details of it to anyone.
Shortly after this meeting, Prideaux asked for compassionate leave from the school, claiming that his mother was ill. In fact, he went to London and stalked Smiley as the latter pursued his quest for the identity of the mole in the Circus. Although Smiley became uneasy on one or two occasions, not even he could definitely spot and identify his shadower.
Finally, the mole was revealed to be Haydon. Haydon was held at Sarratt while the Circus negotiated his exchange for some of the British agents in Russia he had betrayed. He admitted to Smiley that Operation Testify was a ploy to discredit Control from the beginning. Haydon knew that Prideaux would be selected by Control for the mission, but claimed that Prideaux's injuries were not part of the plan, and boasted that he obtained his repatriation rather than allowing him to be executed.
The night before Haydon was due to be exchanged, he was allowed to walk out into the grounds of the Sarratt facility alone. Half an hour later, he was found dead with a broken neck.
After returning to his teaching job, Prideaux appeared to be distracted for some weeks, but recovered. He was not referred to by Le Carré in any of his later works.
television adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Prideaux was played by Scottish actor Ian Bannen
. In the 2011 film adaptation
, he was played by Mark Strong
. In both adaptations, his revenge murder of Haydon, which was only hinted at in the original novel, was explicitly depicted.
Intelligence officer
An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile and/or analyze information which is of use to that organization...
in the novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a 1974 British spy novel by John le Carré, featuring George Smiley. Smiley is a middle-aged, taciturn, perspicacious intelligence expert in forced retirement. He is recalled to hunt down a Soviet mole in the "Circus", the highest echelon of the Secret Intelligence...
by John le Carré
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
. Although his character and actions are central to the plot, they are mostly revealed in sequences of dialogue and flashbacks, or are indirectly referred to.
Character and Career
Jim Prideaux was born to European parents, who nevertheless entered him for Eton CollegeEton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, although he never went there, attending school in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
instead. He later went to Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
where he was best known as a sportsman. He attracted the attention of fellow student Bill Haydon
Bill Haydon
Bill Haydon is a fictional character created by John le Carré, and is a major figure in le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.-Biography:...
, who had already been recruited into the Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
(SIS). Although Haydon's interests were artistic, his and Prideaux's characters complemented each other. It was sometimes wondered in later years whether their relationship was more than purely intellectual.
Prideaux served with distinction in the SIS during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After a brief spell of teaching after the war, he rejoined the Service. During the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
he often worked undercover in Communist Czechoslovakia, being fluent in the Czech language
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
. He is described as a "man of action" and a "plain field man who lets others do the thinking."
Operation Testify
In the early 1970s, he was in charge of a section known as "Scalphunters", who performed the cruder acts of espionage; burglaries, arranging "crash" defectionDefection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
s through on-the-spot bribery or blackmail, and even kidnappings. He was summoned to a secret meeting by Control, the anonymous head of the "Circus", the London Headquarters of the SIS. Control was convinced that one of the top-level officers in the Circus was a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
mole
Mole (espionage)
A mole is a spy who works for an enemy nation, but whose loyalty ostensibly lies with his own nation's government. In some usage, a mole differs from a defector in that a mole is a spy before gaining access to classified information, while a defector becomes a spy only after gaining access...
, and believed that a Czech General, disillusioned after the crushing of the Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
, had offered to reveal the mole's identity. In an operation which Control named "Testify", Prideaux was to meet the General near Brno
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
. Control and Prideaux devised a series of codenames for the identity of mole using the children's rhyme Tinker, Tailor
Tinker, Tailor
"Tinker Tailor" is a counting game, nursery rhyme and fortune telling song traditionally played in England, that can be used to count cherry stones, buttons, daisy petals and other items...
, hence the book's title.
Soon after he arrived in Czechoslovakia, Prideaux became aware that he was under surveillance, though he assumed that this was because the false identity he was using was "blown", having already been used. He evaded his shadowers by a dash through several crowded shops but when he arrived at the General's house outside Brno, he was ambushed by Russian troops and shot in the back while attempting to flee. After being hastily treated, he was subjected to a gruelling interrogation. Expecting to divert the interrogators by a series of deceptions, he was astounded to find that they already knew of his meeting with Control and its purpose, which quickly broke his resistance.
After the Service
He was repatriated but was then kept in seclusion at the Service's facility at SarrattSarratt
Sarratt is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, on the border of the county with Buckinghamshire. Sarratt is near Chesham, and the River Chess passes through the village....
. Finally, he was told by section chief Toby Esterhase
Toby Esterhase
Toby Esterhase is a fictional character in John le Carré's George Smiley spy novels including Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; The Honourable Schoolboy; and Smiley's People, as well as some of the stories in The Secret Pilgrim....
to forget everything, including Operation Testify and "Tinker, Tailor", and dismissed from the Service with an extra £1000 gratuity. He acquired an Alvis car and became a supply teacher
Substitute teacher
A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, or other reasons. "Substitute teacher" is the most commonly used phrase in the United States, Canada and Ireland, while supply teacher is the most commonly...
at a preparatory school in the West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
, living in a caravan in the school grounds.
Despite his injury he kept fit through a gruelling exercise regime. His tough, soldierly bearing led to him being nicknamed "Rhino" by the pupils. He nevertheless remained nervous, continually checking that he was not being followed or that his mail was not being intercepted by a variety of counter-surveillance
Countersurveillance
Countersurveillance refers to measures undertaken to prevent surveillance, including covert surveillance. Countersurveillance may include electronic methods such as bug sweeping, the process of detecting surveillance devices, including covert listening devices and visual surveillance devices...
techniques. After he became aware that enquiries had been made about him, he was approached by George Smiley
George Smiley
George Smiley is a fictional character created by John le Carré. Smiley is an intelligence officer working for MI6 , the British overseas intelligence agency...
, the former Deputy Head of the Service. Although Prideaux was wary at first, he eventually related the full details of Operation Testify and his capture and interrogation. He described some of his interrogators, one of whom Smiley recognised as Karla
Karla
Karla is the feminine form of Karl. Karla can also refer to:- People :* Karla Bonoff, American singer-songwriter* Karla DeVito, American singer* Karla Echenique, a Dominican Republic volleyball player* Karla Erbová, Czech writer...
, a legendary Soviet intelligence officer who had responsibility for running "moles" in various Western governments and agencies. Smiley also deduced that Prideaux visited Haydon before departing on Operation Testify, though Prideaux denied divulging any details of it to anyone.
Shortly after this meeting, Prideaux asked for compassionate leave from the school, claiming that his mother was ill. In fact, he went to London and stalked Smiley as the latter pursued his quest for the identity of the mole in the Circus. Although Smiley became uneasy on one or two occasions, not even he could definitely spot and identify his shadower.
Finally, the mole was revealed to be Haydon. Haydon was held at Sarratt while the Circus negotiated his exchange for some of the British agents in Russia he had betrayed. He admitted to Smiley that Operation Testify was a ploy to discredit Control from the beginning. Haydon knew that Prideaux would be selected by Control for the mission, but claimed that Prideaux's injuries were not part of the plan, and boasted that he obtained his repatriation rather than allowing him to be executed.
The night before Haydon was due to be exchanged, he was allowed to walk out into the grounds of the Sarratt facility alone. Half an hour later, he was found dead with a broken neck.
After returning to his teaching job, Prideaux appeared to be distracted for some weeks, but recovered. He was not referred to by Le Carré in any of his later works.
Portrayals in television and film
In the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Prideaux was played by Scottish actor Ian Bannen
Ian Bannen
Ian Bannen was a Scottish character actor and occasional leading man.-Early life and career:Bannen was born in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, the son of Clare and John James Bannen, a lawyer. Bannen served in the British Army after attending St Aloysius' College, Glasgow and Ratcliffe College,...
. In the 2011 film adaptation
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (film)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 2011 English-language espionage film directed by Tomas Alfredson, from a screenplay written by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan based on the 1974 novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré...
, he was played by Mark Strong
Mark Strong
Mark Strong is an English actor, with a body of work in both films and television. He has performed in films as varied as Body of Lies, Syriana, The Young Victoria, Sherlock Holmes, RocknRolla, Stardust, and Kick-Ass...
. In both adaptations, his revenge murder of Haydon, which was only hinted at in the original novel, was explicitly depicted.