Being one of the first spy fiction novels, Kim by Rudyard Kipling establishes a key flaw of a spy that is repeated in numerous spy novels released after Kim. The flaw is first seen when Kim sees the military men and starts eavesdropping on them. Kim gets captured and is eventually forced to join the military men because Kim lets his personal desires of wanting to know more about the red bull in a green field interfere with his ability to be a successful spy. The idea that spies need to be almost emotionless and keep feelings and wishes separate from their work drives the attributes and personalities that many people associate with spies. Gathering information while keeping their identity a secret is a spy’s main goal and many difficulties…show more content… In most situations, a spy is undercover trying to blend in with people who are his enemies. Spies often need to befriend their enemies and trick them into thinking that they have a personal connection to believably keep who they really are a secret. Pretending to have a personal connection causes many spies to become absorbed in their character and they start to develop real feelings for the people that they are supposed to be detached from. Emotions are extremely disadvantageous for a spy because his decision making may be altered, and his judgement will be clouded by thoughts that he should not be having. Poor decision making was shown by Kim because his father told him that a red bull in a green field would help him achieve his wishes. Kim should have run away from the camp when they finished dinner because he knew that people might start looking outside of the camp, but he chose to stay instead because his judgement was clouded by his personal connection to the red bull in the green field. Earlier
