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
The narrator has always wanted to be heroic and has always been good at pretending. But now she knows she’s a coward, since she made such a ridiculous deal with SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden. The deal was that in exchange for getting her clothes back, the narrator would share sets of wireless code. Now, 10 sets later, she has all her clothing items aside from her slip. Instead of buying her slip with the final code set, the narrator bought this paper from von Linden. She has two weeks to write everything she remembers about the British War Effort. Von Linden is a lot like Captain Hook, and the narrator is a lot like Peter Pan—she trusts that he’s going to keep his word.
The narrator immediately conveys that what she’s going through is something extremely serious; saying she has two weeks to write, and calling herself a coward, suggests that something terrible will happen at the end of the two weeks. Her reference to the British War Effort suggests that these events are happening during World War II, and that the narrator is being held captive (perhaps by the Germans, given that von Linden is a German name). The narrator’s likening her relationship to von Linden to the relationship between Peter Pan and Captain Hook adds a more lighthearted tone to what’s happening—though this could also suggest that the narrator is being naïve by trusting von Linden.
Themes
The narrator is relieved to get to write something that isn’t wireless code, even if it’s her “treasonous account.” She insults the “stupid Nazi bastards,” whom she knows will shoot her when all is said and done. If they don’t, and she somehow makes it home, her people will shoot her anyway. This path seemed easiest, compared to the death camps or being burned alive or cut apart here.
Here, the narrator confirms that things aren’t going to end happily for her, no matter what happens. She’s been captured by the Nazis, and she’s agreed to work with them—so to her side (presumably, the Allies), she’s a traitor. The narrator also seems to be going out of her way to describe just how cowardly she’s being—she seems to have decided that spilling her secrets is worth it to avoid concentration camps or torture.
Themes
The narrator is going to write in English; her written French and German aren’t good enough. Fräulen Engel can translate the account for von Linden. Now, the narrator turns to the first thing she’s been asked to reveal: the location of British airfields for the invasion of Europe. When she first read this request, the narrator burst out laughing. She knows nothing about airfields; she’s only a part of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) because she’s trilingual. The Nazis captured her because she has a terrible sense of direction: the Nazis saw her look the wrong way before crossing the street (which revealed that she wasn’t French), and she was almost run down by a van.
The narrator isn’t as knowledgeable as her captors think she is, so her “treasonous account” probably isn’t going to be all that helpful to the Nazis. And she also goes out of her way to be self-deprecating, as when she describes her terrible sense of direction and blames that for her getting caught. Her only skill, it seems, is being able to speak three languages.
Themes
Now, the narrator writes that she’s also supposed to tell von Linden about the types of aircraft the Allies are using. She knows nothing about aircraft types; if she did, she’d be flying for the Air Transport Auxiliary like Maddie, who is the pilot who dropped the narrator in France. On second thought, the narrator knows some types of aircraft. She knows about the Puss Moth because it’s the first aircraft Maddie flew, and the narrator’s story of how she got here is also Maddie’s story. She can’t explain why she was captured with Maddie’s identification documents, but if she tells Maddie’s story, her captors will know why they flew to France together.
Now, the narrator starts to set up the idea that her current situation, where she’s captured by the Nazis, is a frame story for the real story—Maddie’s. The narrator is going to reveal how she and Maddie ended up in France, and probably tell the Nazis some of the information they want to hear, through telling Maddie’s story. Noting that Maddie is a pilot introduces the fact that the novel is, in many ways, an exploration of how women’s jobs expanded during World War II—female pilots were, at this time, very uncommon.
Themes
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Part 1: Aircraft Types. The narrator writes that Maddie’s full name is Margaret Brodatt. She grew up in Stockport and is excellent at navigation. This is, perhaps, because her granddad gave her a motorcycle for her 16th birthday. From then on, Maddie spent her youth running around the Pennine hills. The narrator joined Maddie once. This part of the story is important, because it will prove that the narrator knows what she’s talking about when she later describes how Maddie felt about flying and looking down at the English landscape.
The narrator implies that Maddie’s motorcycle gave Maddie freedom and independence that, perhaps, other women at this time didn’t enjoy. So even from age 16, when she gets her motorcycle, Maddie is already starting to defy strict gender roles. While the narrator acknowledges that all of this might seem arbitrary, the fact remains that she’s decided to write it down—so for some reason or another, it is important.
Themes
In the summer of 1938, Maddie took her friend Beryl, who worked at the nearby cotton mill, for a ride and a picnic. They stopped when there were too many potholes to keep going and ate their sandwiches leaning against a stone wall. Beryl insisted that Maddie was lucky because she had a skill: fixing engines. Maddie wasn’t convinced she’d ever get a job fixing engines because she’s female. (At this point, the narrator notes that Fräulen Engel wants her to write that the narrator has wasted 20 minutes laughing at her own jokes. She won’t laugh anymore, because Engel sharpened the pencil close to the narrator’s eyes while SS-Sharführer Thibaut held her head still.)
Maddie’s female friends, at least, admire Maddie’s ability to fix engines—Beryl doesn’t seem to see anything wrong or odd with Maddie knowing how to do this. But Maddie seems aware that Beryl might be an anomaly—or, even if people will generally be okay with Maddie knowing how to fix engines, this is no guarantee that anyone will pay her to fix engines. Jumping back into the frame story like this shows that the narrator is writing under scary, horrifying conditions—and perhaps suggests that her writing is an escape from those conditions.
Themes
Returning to her story, the narrator notes that Puss Moths are light monoplanes (unlike Tiger Moths, which are biplanes). As they ate, Maddie and Beryl noticed a Puss Moth circling above. It was choking and smoking; Maddie said the pilot was burning oil and should shut it off and glide into a landing. The pilot did just that, but the field was unmown, and the plane bounced and stopped on its nose. Maddie clapped without thinking, but then ran to the plane to help the pilot. Beryl helped Maddie get the unconscious pilot down, and then they removed his helmet and goggles—but the pilot was a girl.
For Maddie, seeing the plane come down and knowing exactly what’s going on with the engine is satisfying—it proves she knows what she’s talking about. But things get more interesting for her when she and Beryl discover that the pilot is female. Beryl and Maddie clearly expect to find a man under the helmet and goggles, which shows just how unusual it is at this point in time for women to be flying planes.
Themes
Maddie rode off to get help. She was shocked that a girl was flying the plane. But it seemed logical: Maddie had never crashed her motorcycle, so obviously she should be able to fly an airplane. Then, the narrator notes that she knows one other type of aircraft, the Lysander. That’s what Maddie was flying when she and the narrator arrived in France. They were shot at on the way in, and Maddie couldn’t control the plane with the tail burning, so she made the narrator parachute out. The narrator has since seen the pictures; she knows Maddie crashed the plane.
Discovering that the pilot is female opens up a whole new world for Maddie. She’s good with engines, and she hasn’t gotten into any trouble with her motorcycle yet—so she figures planes shouldn’t be all that different. The narrator seems to confirm that Maddie’s logic in 1938 was correct, as the description of the women’s arrival in France casts Maddie as competent and knowledgeable. Maddie did, presumably, what she thought needed to happen to save the narrator’s life. And at this point, the implication is that Maddie survived the crash, just as the female pilot did in 1938.
Themes
Some British Support for Anti-Semitism. Back in Maddie’s story, it was a Monday. But the narrator is overcome with the realization that Beryl worked at the Ladderal mills—she and the “snotty” babies she’s probably had since then were no doubt killed in the bombings of Manchester.
The narrator’s story about Maddie is overwhelmingly happy and optimistic, but it’s still tinged with dark notes. The narrator can’t ignore that the people she’s writing about are likely dead—and that the intended readers of her account, the Nazis, are to blame for that.
Themes
Maddie spent the next week putting together the pilot’s story. Her name was Dympna Wythenshawe, the daughter of some wealthy lord. As soon as Dympna was out of the hospital, she started giving people joyrides in her Dragon Rapide. Maddie combed through the newspaper for any information and tried to ignore the articles about “that idiot Fascist Oswald Mosley.” She decided to go to the Catton Park Aerodrome on Saturday. But unfortunately, that morning, Mosley was speaking in Stockport with a bunch of his followers marching to support him. Maddie got stuck trying to cross the road and, as she waited, three of Mosley’s followers commented on her motorcycle, her legs, and her vagina, using a rude word that won’t translate to French or German.
Maddie seems to be nothing if not tenacious, but the note that Dympna comes from money suggests that Maddie might have some trouble getting into flying because she comes from a working-class background. And the fact that she runs into some “idiot Fascist[s]” on her way to the aerodrome shows that even at this early stage of Maddie’s story, the threat of World War II still looms large. Just as these young male fascists hold Maddie up at this point, fascists and Nazis will hold up Maddie and other women’s progress as the novel and the war go on.
Themes
This upset Maddie, so she rammed her bike into one of the young men. When they ascertained that she probably bought her bike at Brodatt’s—her granddad’s shop, which sold to Jews—they insulted the shop. Maddie insulted them in return, and they pushed her and her bike over before disappearing. Other people helped Maddie up, and Maddie vowed to get something bigger than a motorcycle soon. The narrator notes that Fräulen Engel has asked her to stop writing “idiot Fascist,” because von Linden won’t like it. Engel seems scared of him.
This passage characterizes Maddie as fearless: she seems to see these young men as annoying and rude, but not necessarily dangerous. Meanwhile, Engel seems to be fully on board with torturing and terrifying the narrator, but they both might have a bigger, shared enemy in von Linden. And the request to stop writing “idiot Fascist” also suggests that there may be other things the narrator isn’t writing, so as to please her Nazi readers.
Themes
Location of British Airfields. The Nazis no doubt already know that Catton Park Aerodrome is in Ilsmere Port; it’s been the busiest airfield in northern England for a decade. They probably also know better than the narrator what England is using it for now. In any case, back in the story, Maddie pulled up and stared at the fancy cars in the lot, and then at the airplanes in the sky. After watching for 30 minutes, Maddie headed for the flying club building and accidentally ran right into Dympna, who was lounging by the pilots’ clubhouse. Dympna was the only female pilot at the aerodrome—and the only female instructor.
Again, the narrator’s self-deprecating tone is designed to show her Nazi readers that she’s not as knowledgeable as they think she is. Her account is probably not very useful for military strategy purposes. So it follows that the purpose of the account is, to the narrator, to tell Maddie’s story. At this point, Maddie’s story seems relatively happy and hopeful, so this may be a way for the narrator to escape the mental trauma she’s currently experiencing.
Themes
When Dympna offered to take Maddie for a ride once the Puss Month was fixed, Maddie asked to see the plane. Dympna obligingly took Maddie to the workshop, and Maddie was shocked to discover that the plane’s engine had half the power of her motorcycle. She asked to watch, and eventually the mechanics let her help. Four hours later, Dympna asked when Maddie was coming back. Maddie lamented that she lived in Stockport and couldn’t come often, but Dympna had good news: she was moving her planes to the new airfield at Oakway, near the Ladderal Mill. At this point, the narrator says she’s “wobbly” and exhausted since she hasn’t eaten or drank since yesterday.
Maddie goes to the workshop seemingly expecting to find some massive, intimidating machine—and so the Puss Moth seems much less intimidating when she realizes it’s not even as powerful as her motorcycle. To Maddie, this makes flying seem even more attainable, especially since things seem to be working out so well with Dympna. Meanwhile, readers still can’t forget the circumstances in which the narrator is writing. She’s writing under duress, and the Nazis don’t seem to be giving her any amenities—which is making writing difficult.
Themes
