Sweet Tooth

Thomas Haley is an academic and aspiring writer who is drawn into a strange world of spies and mistruth. Despite the money given to him by the Foundation and the encouragement he receives from Serena, Haley is always caught between the worlds of academic and fiction. To him, academia is a safe place where he can casually analyze the work of others and share his enjoyment with the world, without the risk of exposing himself to wide critique. Fiction is a chaotic alternative. The stories he writes offer criticism of the world at large, but this criticism makes Haley more of a target. While people can dispute his academic research, they can scorn his writing. He must be tempted out of his safe world of academia, and he is rewarded with widespread praise before everything falls apart. Ultimately, Haley is proven right to fear fiction; it becomes his undoing, and he must retreat into the quiet, safe world of academia.

Haley falls quickly for Serena. Part of his attraction is the way she flatters him. Serena’s praise for his fiction is the push Haley needs to make the leap into writing a novel, while her innocence allows him to indulge his passion for teaching at the same time. Haley teaches Serena about literature, guiding her through his favorite subjects. Her presence means that he never truly has to give up teaching. Her flattery and her interest provide the foundation on which Haley can finally exercise his flair for writing.

When Haley finds out the truth about Serena, he is angry. This anger quickly turns into a new plan: He becomes a spy. Haley uses his creativity to turn a relationship-ending, career-ending issue into his greatest achievement. He is no longer torn between academia and fiction because his role as a spy means that he no longer has a choice. He turns his entire life into a fiction with the knowledge that he will soon return to academia. Haley gives himself one final experience of the chaos of fiction writing before allowing himself to return to the quiet, contented world of academia and the warm embrace of Serena’s love.

Tony Canning is an old man with a taste for younger women. His position at Cambridge University gives him access to many such women and Serena is not the first of his string of affairs. He is practiced in infidelity, so teaches Serena how to keep their affair hidden from his wife and the community. Despite this need for secrecy, Tony’s affection for Serena is sincere. As he explains in a letter delivered to her long after his death, he genuinely cares for her. His parting gift is to give her a job in the world of intelligence. Not only does he have experience in this field, but his lessons on how to hide an affair and global politics become the perfect preparation for Serena’s entry into MI5. Tony’s penchant for younger women is not just the product of a raging libido; he is genuine in his affection, if not all his actions.

One of the few times that Tony lies to Serena is when he breaks off their relationship. He carefully orchestrates a reason to get angry at her, while hiding the truth about his terminal illness and his betrayal of the British state. Tony views his actions as an immediate pain inflicted on Serena to save her from a far greater, more drawn-out pain later. Though he is deeply pained by having to destroy their relationship, he considers it an act of mercy. His behavior becomes a demonstration of his love for her.

Tony’s memory is complicated by his role as a traitor. As Nutting reveals to Serena, Tony passed secrets to the Soviets during the Cold War. Though he tried to justify his actions with claims of bringing balance to the world, he was forced to do so by an illicit affair with a Russian woman who blackmailed him. Just as Serena suspected, Tony tried to dress up his treachery in intellectualism. At his lowest point, he tried to distinguish himself but only showed that he was the same as everyone else. Tony was a clever man, but prone to the same emotions as anyone else. Rather than demonize him, the truth about Tony’s betrayal makes him more fallible and, as a result, more human.