Warfare is another great big glaring theme in Code Name Verity. Without warfare, we wouldn't have much of a book, after all—there'd be no interrogation, no flying to France, and no friendship between Julie and Maddie in the first place. None of the terrible things both narrators describe would happen at all, plus they never would have even met. Julie and Maddie both take refuge in their friendship, by being together and then by writing about their time together when they're apart. For both, it's the one really good thing that comes out of something truly terrible.
Questions About Warfare
- If Julie and Maddie had met in peacetime, how might their relationship have been different?
- How does the pairing of a story of friendship with a story of war work or not work for you?
- Code Name Verity gives us an alternate image of World War II from the one we normally see, both by focusing on female characters and by directing attention toward smaller scenes rather than toward large battles. How does this enhance readers' understanding of the war?
- Is there a message about war in the novel? If so, what is it?
Chew on This
Themes of war and friendship are intertwined in Code Name Verity to the point that they cannot be separated.
The war provides the backdrop for the story of Julie and Maddie's friendship, but the story could have been set anywhere and at any time.