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Jim Prideaux
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Jim Prideaux
Jim Prideaux is a fictional character created by John le Carré. He plays a major role in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and is a minor character in A Legacy of Spies and Karla's Choice. His career in British intelligence (called "The Circus" in Le Carré's books) spans from World War II to 1972, when it is cut short by a botched mission in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. This mission, known as "Operation Testify," is the inciting event for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Born to "parents in European banking" with a "small aristo" background Prideaux was raised abroad and attended Oxford. Smiley recalls that Jim was at first more athletically gifted than academically, but he came to excel in linguistics and was a polyglot. During his time at Oxford, Prideaux was befriended by Bill Haydon, a young Circus agent who recruited him to the organization. The two were lovers and remained close friends throughout their careers in the Circus.
Prideaux has a gruff demeanor, which Smiley likens to that of a soldier, and speaks in short, clipped sentences; this demeanor disguises an intelligent mind, and he is essentially kind, especially towards children. Following WWII, Prideaux briefly works as a teacher before rejoining the intelligence services. He works at the Circus for three decades, primarily in Czechoslovakia, and is head of the Balkans desk by 1960. By 1972, he has been transferred to the "scalp-hunters," a division of the Circus dedicated to more dangerous counterintelligence missions, especially involving coercion, violence, or assassinations.
In October 1972, Control, the head of the Circus, sends Prideaux on an off-the-books mission to Czechoslovakia, codename "Operation Testify." Control believes that the Circus has been infiltrated by a highly placed KGB mole, and sends Prideaux to Brno to interview a Czech general claiming to know the mole's identity. Though Prideaux later claims he did not believe the mole theory, he goes on the mission, and is shot and captured, creating an international scandal. "Testify" was a trap, meant to disgrace Control and discredit the Circus. While imprisoned, Prideaux is interrogated for several months by Karla.
After several months, Haydon arranges to have Prideaux repatriated to England. Prideaux is permanently disabled from the bullet to his back, and discharged from the Circus without any debriefing. He is given a gratuity and set up with a post as a supply teacher, teaching French at a remote prep school in Somerset.
A year after Testify, retired Circus agent George Smiley is tasked by Whitehall with identifying the Soviet mole. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy alternates between Smiley's investigation and Prideaux's life as a schoolteacher, where he attempts to adjust to civilian life while dealing with the PTSD and injury from Operation Testify. He is well-liked by his students, who nickname him "Rhino." He is especially beloved by Bill Roach, an anxious, unpopular child of a broken home. Prideaux nicknames Roach "Jumbo" rather than referring to him by his given name.
In the final stage of his investigation, Smiley travels to the prep school to interview Prideaux about Operation Testify. He finds Prideaux leading a peaceful but uneasy life at the school, living in a self-maintained caravan on the school grounds. During Smiley's interview, Prideaux details the mission, the trap, and his months-long interrogation, but he vehemently denies Smiley's suggestion that he was set up or betrayed by anyone at the Circus—least of all by Haydon, his oldest, closest friend.
In the days following his conversation with Prideaux, Smiley has an instinctive "feeling" that he is being followed, but is unable to identify any particular watcher. Smiley proves that Haydon is indeed the mole. Once Haydon is arrested and interviewed, the British government arranges a prisoner exchange with the Soviet Union. The night before his scheduled transfer, however, Haydon is found dead on the prison grounds. His neck has been broken. The book implies that Prideaux, after following Smiley to the mole, killed Haydon himself.
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Jim Prideaux
Jim Prideaux is a fictional character created by John le Carré. He plays a major role in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and is a minor character in A Legacy of Spies and Karla's Choice. His career in British intelligence (called "The Circus" in Le Carré's books) spans from World War II to 1972, when it is cut short by a botched mission in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. This mission, known as "Operation Testify," is the inciting event for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Born to "parents in European banking" with a "small aristo" background Prideaux was raised abroad and attended Oxford. Smiley recalls that Jim was at first more athletically gifted than academically, but he came to excel in linguistics and was a polyglot. During his time at Oxford, Prideaux was befriended by Bill Haydon, a young Circus agent who recruited him to the organization. The two were lovers and remained close friends throughout their careers in the Circus.
Prideaux has a gruff demeanor, which Smiley likens to that of a soldier, and speaks in short, clipped sentences; this demeanor disguises an intelligent mind, and he is essentially kind, especially towards children. Following WWII, Prideaux briefly works as a teacher before rejoining the intelligence services. He works at the Circus for three decades, primarily in Czechoslovakia, and is head of the Balkans desk by 1960. By 1972, he has been transferred to the "scalp-hunters," a division of the Circus dedicated to more dangerous counterintelligence missions, especially involving coercion, violence, or assassinations.
In October 1972, Control, the head of the Circus, sends Prideaux on an off-the-books mission to Czechoslovakia, codename "Operation Testify." Control believes that the Circus has been infiltrated by a highly placed KGB mole, and sends Prideaux to Brno to interview a Czech general claiming to know the mole's identity. Though Prideaux later claims he did not believe the mole theory, he goes on the mission, and is shot and captured, creating an international scandal. "Testify" was a trap, meant to disgrace Control and discredit the Circus. While imprisoned, Prideaux is interrogated for several months by Karla.
After several months, Haydon arranges to have Prideaux repatriated to England. Prideaux is permanently disabled from the bullet to his back, and discharged from the Circus without any debriefing. He is given a gratuity and set up with a post as a supply teacher, teaching French at a remote prep school in Somerset.
A year after Testify, retired Circus agent George Smiley is tasked by Whitehall with identifying the Soviet mole. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy alternates between Smiley's investigation and Prideaux's life as a schoolteacher, where he attempts to adjust to civilian life while dealing with the PTSD and injury from Operation Testify. He is well-liked by his students, who nickname him "Rhino." He is especially beloved by Bill Roach, an anxious, unpopular child of a broken home. Prideaux nicknames Roach "Jumbo" rather than referring to him by his given name.
In the final stage of his investigation, Smiley travels to the prep school to interview Prideaux about Operation Testify. He finds Prideaux leading a peaceful but uneasy life at the school, living in a self-maintained caravan on the school grounds. During Smiley's interview, Prideaux details the mission, the trap, and his months-long interrogation, but he vehemently denies Smiley's suggestion that he was set up or betrayed by anyone at the Circus—least of all by Haydon, his oldest, closest friend.
In the days following his conversation with Prideaux, Smiley has an instinctive "feeling" that he is being followed, but is unable to identify any particular watcher. Smiley proves that Haydon is indeed the mole. Once Haydon is arrested and interviewed, the British government arranges a prisoner exchange with the Soviet Union. The night before his scheduled transfer, however, Haydon is found dead on the prison grounds. His neck has been broken. The book implies that Prideaux, after following Smiley to the mole, killed Haydon himself.