Conrad remarks in this book, as well as others, on the irrationality of life, the opacity of character,[3] the unfairness with which suffering is inflicted upon the innocent and poor and the careless disregard for the lives of those with whom we share existence.

Razumov, with no family to fall back on, feels isolated from his contemporaries, takes no interest in the "great issues" of the day, and works toward a middle-class, secure position within the Czarist system.

Harbouring no sympathy for Haldin's actions or his ideals, Razumov is brought closer to conservatism out of the simple fear to survive.

Afterwards he makes up his mind to betray Haldin to save his own life and turns to his university sponsor, Prince K. They go to the chief of police, General T—.

One day, the narrator chances upon the news of Haldin's arrest and execution in an English newspaper, and tells Natalia and her mother.

He also tells her that Razumov is about to arrive in Geneva, which excites Natalia, as Haldin had described him in glowing terms in his letters.

Tekla, like most of the characters whom Razumov encounters, misinterprets his taciturn cynicism – which is in fact motivated by his hatred for the entire situation he has fallen into – as the expression of a true revolutionist, and pledges her help to him, even to the point of leaving Madame de S— and Peter Ivanovitch.

The narrative shifts back to a few weeks earlier and describes how Razumov arrived in Geneva, having first stayed in Zurich for three days with Sophia Antonovna, the right hand of Peter Ivanovitch.

He is invited to the Chateau Borel, where he is received on friendly terms, as Madame de S— and Peter Ivanovitch think that he was a collaborator of Haldin.

After telling Razumov that some of the best Russian minds ultimately returned to them (referring to Dostoevsky, Gogol and Aksakov), he lets him go.

He summons him to further interviews where he recruits him, with the blessings of Prince K., to act as a secret agent for the Czarist authorities of the Russian Empire.

He mails the record to Natalia and goes to the house of Julius Laspara where a social gathering of revolutionaries is taking place.

Razumov declares to the crowd that Ziemianitch was innocent and explains his motives only partially, but confesses that he was the one who betrayed Haldin.

In this version "Razumov", the story that would become Under Western Eyes, over the next two years, was intended to extend and rework ideas in the plot of The Secret Agent.

[6] When Conrad finally delivered the completed manuscript to his agent at the end of January 1910, the occasion itself proved explosive and led to a breach in relation that lasted two years.

J.B. Pinker, to whom Conrad was very heavily in debt, seems to have lost patience with his author's pace of work and precipitated a quarrel.

Shortly after a heated exchange, Conrad collapsed, his doctor diagnosing "a complete nervous breakdown" that had "been coming for months".

[7] Describing her husband's breakdown, Jessie Conrad wrote: "he lives mixed up in the scenes and hold converse with the characters" of Under Western Eyes.

Elsewhere she recalls how Conrad, in delirium, "spoke all the time in Polish, but for a few fierce sentences against poor J.B. Pinker" [8] His delusions apparently included symptoms of persecution mania.

[9] In 1920, Conrad wrote an Author's Note for this novel, reflecting on its changed perception due to events of history, specifically the Russian Revolution of 1917.