The key conflict in The Heat of the Day is Stella’s internal turmoil regarding what to do after Harrison tells her Robert is an enemy spy. The question of personal versus national loyalty contributes to the novel’s tone and its questions of what it means to live in wartime. By addressing the moral ambiguities of Stella’s choice, Bowen suggests that both interpersonal and national loyalty are layered and complex.

First, the terms of Harrison’s “offer” to Stella mean that it is not a straightforward choice of whether or not to turn Robert in for being a spy. Harrison’s suggestion is that Stella enter into a sexual relationship with him to keep Robert out of trouble. As Stella observes, “I’m to form a disagreeable association in order that a man be left free to go on selling his country,” to which Harrison replies, “That’s putting it a bit crudely” (36). Therefore, Stella must decide not only whether or not to believe Harrison and accuse Robert, but also whether she is willing to allow herself to be blackmailed to protect him. That Harrison is on the “right side” as a counterspy for England is also undercut by the unethical blackmail he uses on Stella.