The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton: Report

Plot:
A psychological thriller about… In Edwardian London, an undercover police detective and
poet infiltrates the extremist anarchist underground. Elected to the post of Thursday on the
anarchist council, masterminded by the monstrous Sunday, the poet tries to prevent an
anarchist assassination in Paris. But when the plot reveals its surreal nature, he is left unsure
who to trust and even what is real.

Characters:
Gabriel Syme – Protagonist who goes undercover and becomes ‘Thursday’
Sunday – Antagonist and the radical leader of the anarchists… or is he?
Monday – ‘The Secretary’ and Sunday’s right hand man
Tuesday-Saturday – Other anarchists and all undercover detectives
The Narrator – Omniscient 3rd person narrator but often expresses Symes’ perspectives
Lucian Gregory – Seemingly the only real anarchist and introduces Syme to the group

Themes:
Order, Chaos and Good – All simultaneous past, present and futures and conflicting motives
Identity – No one is who they seem to be, until Syme himself questions is he really himself
Tradition vs Modernity – Reflects the turn of the century transformations in society
Purpose of Art – Syme is also a poet which bases the world in subjective art and nature

Related Studies:
Death of a Salesman – Loss of identity for work and meaningless purpose in a deceptive
society
Othello – Outsiders who are seemingly out of place who possibly try to change the world
around them to no prevail
The World’s Wife – Complete absence of women and only focuses on the hardships of men
in a society they created themselves
When Will There Be Good News – Crime novel that analyses the persons reaction to the
crime not why it is happening