Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Code Name Verity, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Friendship
War, Women, and Gender Roles
The Horrors of War
Resistance and Courage
Storytelling
Summary
Analysis
According to von Linden, the narrator is the most foul-mouthed person he knows. Today, she’s to have her mouth swabbed with actual carbolic acid, which is what they use for lethal injections at Natzweiler-Struthof. Engel mixed the carbolic, but she won’t come close to the narrator with it. It seems like both she and the narrator are hoping that if they keep putting it off, they won’t have to go through with it.
Something seems to have happened for von Linden to suddenly return to treating the narrator so cruelly. Engel, though, seems to have lost her taste for torturing the narrator. Recall that a week ago, she was sharpening pencils near the narrator’s eyes. Either the carbolic is just too cruel for her to get behind, or she’s experiencing a change of heart.
Themes
The narrator writes that last night, she and von Linden got into a “catfight” over the French girl. The Gestapo were torturing the girl all last night—and finally, the narrator broke. She started to scream for the French girl to lie and tell the Gestapo anything. Then, unexpectedly, guards fetched the narrator and threw her at von Linden’s feet. He told her to give the French girl the advice again, and unsure of what was going on, the narrator did as she was told. Though the French girl could barely speak, she managed to ask if the narrator has been lying.
For much of her narrative, the narrator has cheekily been trying to decide if von Linden has a soul—that is, if he can feel compassion for others. This anecdote seems to suggest that he’s ruthless and is more than willing to manipulate his prisoners when they refuse to play by his rules. In this situation, the narrator has no power—she knows von Linden can order her dead in an instant, so there’s no pushing back if the narrator wants to continue her account.
Themes
Von Linden told the narrator to answer the question—and the narrator lost it. In a scream, she asked if von Linden doesn’t lie to Isolde. He then said, “Carbolic,” and told his cronies to burn the narrator’s mouth clean. Nobody knew whether von Linden actually wanted them to kill the narrator, and nobody seemed to know what they were doing with the carbolic. The narrator screeched at von Linden to watch while he thought of Isolde. He instead gave the command for Engel to administer the carbolic tomorrow.
The answer to the French girl’s question is no doubt of interest to von Linden—the narrator’s account is, of course, useless if she’s been lying. But interestingly, at least in the retelling, the narrator doesn’t state that she’s told the truth. Instead, she essentially implies that everyone lies—perhaps even her. This makes her even more of an unreliable narrator, as readers are also unable to verify if she’s telling the truth.
Themes
When the narrator sat down to write this morning, there was a pencil and paper for her as usual. Engel is waiting impatiently to hear what the narrator did last night, as nobody’s told her. There’s not much else for the narrator to write; how does von Linden expect this story to end? Engel has now found some ice for the narrator’s water glass. It’s a nice thought, but it’ll be melted by the time she’s scoured the narrator’s mouth with the carbolic.
The narrator’s tone becomes more somber in this passage. She suggests that it should be obvious to everyone that nothing is going to end well—the implication is that Maddie died crashing her plane, and that the narrator is going to have her mouth burned out whether she tells the truth or not. But Engel’s gesture of giving the narrator ice again shows that Engel is becoming more compassionate.
Themes
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Back in Maddie’s story, Maddie and Queenie were flying over France, and Maddie watched the runway flashlights flicker on. She made three attempts to land the broken Lysander, but it just wanted to climb. Finally, Maddie let it climb so that Queenie could jump safely. The narrator writes that a trio of guards has just come for her. They don’t seem like the ones who will administer the carbolic, and all the narrator wants to do is keep writing. Her narrative cuts off abruptly.
Maddie is allowing the plane to climb to protect Queenie—there’s no indication that Maddie is thinking much about her own safety here. Then, it creates tension when the guards arrive for the narrator and cut off her writing—it seems likely that something terrible is going to happen. And as a prisoner, the narrator is powerless to resist or protect herself.
Themes
The narrator only has 15 minutes to record what just happened. The guards tied her and the French girl to each other by their wrists and took them through the cellars to a courtyard (this is underlined). There’s a guillotine there. The guards opened a gate onto a lane (this is underlined) so passersby could watch. The narrator realized they were going to kill the French girl and make her watch—and then kill her. The narrator told the girl her name, and then the guards took the girl to the guillotine. Just before they pushed the girl down, the girl shared her name: Marie.
Once again, it’s unclear why some parts of this passage are underlined—but all of the underlined portions are insights into how the Château de Bordeaux’s entrances and exits work. Forcing the narrator to watch them kill Marie drives home just how cruel and ruthless the Nazis are. Marie’s life doesn’t matter to them—she’s just a tool that they can use to intimidate the narrator.
Themes
The narrator can’t believe she’s still alive. Now, von Linden sits across from her, and Marie’s blood is on the narrator’s hands. He did allow her the 15 minutes to write this, but he’s not happy about it. The narrator believes they only killed Marie to frighten the narrator into saying if she’s lied. She hasn’t lied. Now the 15 minutes are up, and calling her Scheherazade, von Linden commands the narrator to write about her last minutes in the air.
Things seem to be getting more serious if von Linden is now the one supervising the narrator’s writing (that’s usually Engel or Thibaut’s job). Calling her Scheherazade is a reference to the Thousand and One Nights, a collection of stories that a young woman tells a sultan to get him to delay killing her. The implication is that von Linden seems to know the narrator is trying to manipulate him into giving her more time—and he’s done playing along.
Themes
Back in Maddie’s story, Queenie put a hand on Maddie’s shoulder. She was ready to jump whenever Maddie gave her the signal. Maddie decided that she was going to try to land, but only after Queenie was out of the plane—she didn’t want to kill anyone else. Maddie told Queenie to try to land on the flare path. Queenie said, “Kiss me, Hardy,” and Maddie sobbed. Maddie kissed Queenie’s hand, and Queenie jumped out.
Maddie’s decision to wait to land the plane again showcases her courage and willingness to look out for her friends’ well-being before her own. Writing this down is also a way for the narrator to memorialize her friend.
Themes
