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
Addressing Julie, Maddie asks if she’d know if Julie was dead—wouldn’t she feel Julie die? Maddie writes that Amélie and her friends saw an execution at the Château de Bordeaux, which the locals are now calling Château de Borreaux (Castle of Butchers). On Thursday, Amélie and her friends had gone to a café down the way from the Gestapo HQ. When they saw a crowd gathering, they joined it—and they saw the Gestapo kill a girl Amélie went to school with, using a guillotine. Maddie is aghast at the thought. It’s bad enough to be a kid and be afraid of bombs, which is what happens in England. But it’s totally different to be a kid here, where the police could cut off your head.
This execution is, no doubt, the same execution Julie described—when von Linden killed the French girl. The execution shook Julie, and here, Maddie shows how the execution also helps the Gestapo control the locals. Amélie is once again forced to grow up and confront horrible truths long before she’s ready—and this no doubt makes Amélie feel afraid and vulnerable. Maddie seems to share this sentiment, and she insists that it’s inhumane for kids to grow up under these circumstances.
Themes
Maddie remembers being eight and, just before the Depression, taking a vacation in Paris with Granddad and Gran. What she remembers most of all is going up the Eiffel Tower with Granddad. She still has the gold Eiffel Tower on a chain that Granddad bought her. That wasn’t that long ago. What happened?
Both Maddie and Julie have fond memories of visiting France before the war began. Things seem to have changed so fast—now, their childhood memories can’t comfort them anymore, as the realities of the war are too real and too terrible.
Themes
Maman Thibaut has been giving Amélie café au lait, while Mitraillette and Maddie take turns comforting her. Amélie keeps talking, and Mitraillette keeps translating. There was another girl at the execution, but Amélie didn’t see her killed. The two girls were brought out together, tied to each other, and the second had to watch the first be murdered. The Gestapo closed the gates after that. Maddie is certain that the second girl was Julie, but she’s also certain that they didn’t kill her. Maddie keeps thinking of the pictures that Julie has probably seen by now. Julie must think Maddie is dead, but Maddie is alive. It seems like Julie is dead, but she can’t be. Maddie thinks they must be faking her death—and she desperately wants to blow up the hotel.
The reader knows that Maddie is right—the second girl at the execution was Julie—but she has nothing concrete to confirm that right now. This makes things even more difficult, as Maddie is now overcome with worry that Julie is in even graver danger than Maddie thought. As Maddie gets angrier, more afraid, and more upset about Julie’s situation, her desire to finish Julie’s mission also increases. This suggests that on some level, Maddie is starting to overcome her fears of violence—her love for Julie is making blowing up the Gestapo headquarters seem more reasonable and attainable.
Themes
These days, planes fly over Ormaie every night. The planes won’t bomb Ormaie on purpose; they’re probably headed for a munitions factory. That’s exactly why Julie was sent here: the English want to destroy Ormaie from the ground. But people here don’t know that, so they’re terrified—especially since the Americans dropped bombs on Rouen. Sometimes, Maddie wishes they’d bomb the hotel, but then she remembers that Julie is still there. She doesn’t believe Julie is dead, and she won’t believe it until she hears the shots and watches Julie fall.
In this passage, Maddie gets at the idea that everyone in and around Ormaie lives in fear, since people believe bombs could fall at any moment and people’s loved ones disappear all the time. Nobody, least of all Maddie, feels safe. But because Maddie feels so connected to Julie, she does feel secure in her belief that Julie is still alive—and this gives Maddie the courage to keep going.
Themes
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