National Identity in Eric Amblers Journey into Fear Essay -- Journey

National Identity in Eric Ambler's Journey into Fear In his novel A Coffin for Dimitrios, Eric Ambler writes: "A man's features, the bone structure and the tissue which covers it, are the product of a biological process; but his face he creates for himself" (269). This distinction between the physical flesh and the face, the "devil mask" is for Ambler a crucial metaphor of "duplicity" (269). It is "a screen to hide [the] mind's nakedness...though they understand instinctively that the mask cannot be the man behind it; they are generally shocked by a demonstration of the fact" (269). If we extend this notion of the face to other external indicators of the man beneath, such as clothing and nationality, we begin to see the politics that imbue Ambler's characters. Graham, the hero of Journey into Fear, plays the role of the innocent Englishman in a duplicitous world of false identity and "devil masks" (269). As the act of identification occur, both of the mask and of the mind behind the mask, Graham's relation as the Englishman to th e other characters becomes a politicized commentary on England's role in the early stages of the Second World War. In Journey into Fear, Graham is presented to us as an embodiment of the Englishman. To the members of his society, Graham presents nothing more than the epitome of their national identity, to the extent that they are unable to recognize Graham as anything but unremarkable. Entrenched in their own culture, he presents nothing more than what they expect. Insofar as he possesses characteristics particular to him they are necessary only for driving the plot forwards. Beyond providing an alibi for his presence in Turkey, Graham is characterized by the inability of his peers, "the ... ... or so away from the car's tank" and fires at it (262). It is this act of identification of the situation and the action that follows that allows Graham to prevail over the German agents. Ultimately, Journey into Fear reads as a commentary on the political situation of England in the beginning stages of World War II. The nationalist and supra-nationalist identities speak to the necessity that Ambler saw of England first recognizing the situation, being able to identify the ape beneath the mask of national identity and subsequently acting upon it. The hero, Graham in this case, must identify, as Ambler's the painter does, the mind through the face and become aware of the inherently duplicitous nature of that mask. References Ambler, Eric. A Coffin for Dimitrios. Random House: New York 1939. Ambler, Eric. Journey into Fear. Random House: New York 1940.