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
Maddie is still in France thanks to the “Dratted Rosalie”—well, thanks to the Rosalie’s driver, though he’s well-meaning. The plane wasn’t due until two in the morning. Paul took Maddie on a bicycle for the first leg of the journey, and then the car meeting them was late. The Rosalie stopped going up a hill, and Maddie noted that the choke wasn’t working. The driver, of course, only spoke French and wouldn’t take advice from a “slip of a Lass.” So, after he jiggled the choke for a while, the Rosalie started and they continued on. This happened three more times, and Maddie’s temper got worse and worse.
Once again, Maddie experiences sexism from the Rosalie’s driver. He reasons that because Maddie is small and female, she couldn’t possibly know what’s wrong with the engine—but readers know Maddie knows how to work on engines, so she no doubt knows what’s wrong with the Rosalie. And the driver’s sexism, she implies, is most of the reason she didn’t get to the plane in time.
Themes
The fifth time the car stopped, Maddie got out and threatened to shoot the hood open. The driver opened the hood and within minutes, Maddie had fixed the choke valve. They got to the field 30 minutes after the plane left. Maddie kicked the Rosalie’s fender in anger and then apologized to the driver, but he thanked her for fixing his car. Another man waiting for them at the field then gave Maddie a gift Jamie left for her: his boots. She sobbed all the way home.
Receiving Jamie’s boots shows Maddie that to Jamie, at least, Maddie belongs and is one of the pilots—and a close friend. This softens the blow of not being able to go home, since Maddie now knows she has someone she loves in England thinking about her and trying to make life easier for her while she waits.
Themes
