Code Talker Analysis

Southwest United StatesThe landscape of the southwest U.S.—beautiful deserts, arroyos, and a huge blue sky— is central to Code Talker. The Navajo Nation, after all, traces its origins to the so...

This is Chester's story, 100%. He's our hero and our narrator—we get front-row seats to The Chester Show.Code Talker is narrated by Chester, who is a key player in the development and the use of...

Chester Nez was a guy who wore a ton of hats in his lifetime—goat herder, Marine, code-talker, artist, dad. Is it any wonder that a book about him straddles genre lines?Code Talker is an autobiog...

This book's genre is as multifaceted as its main man… and its tone similarly does an awesome job of channeling Chester Nez's personality. Don't crack this book looking for a raunchy laugh riot—...

Much like the tone of Code Talker, the writing style makes you feel as if you're in the same room chatting with Chester Nez. You wouldn't expect this kind of guy to be hyperbolic or speak in pompou...

The full title of this book is pretty long: Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir by One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of World War II. Phew. That's quite a mouthful. The title tells us a fe...

This book is dedicated to the 420 World War II Navajo Marine code talkers—men who developed and implemented an unbreakable communications system that helped ensure the American defeat of the Japa...

Chester ends the book by talking about the publication of Code Talker, and he says that his big hope is that the book will "keep the memory of the code talkers alive." (23.4). (Thankfully, by readi...

Code Talker isn't such a tough read… but the subject matter is basically the toughest there is: war.The language is simple and straightforward and for the most part the narrative is told in a lin...

In Medias Res What the heck is "in medias res"? That's a fancy-shmancy Latin phrase meaning "into the middle of a narrative." It's a phrase used when a story starts right in the middle of action....

The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and the Americans are officially drawn into World War II. The Marines need men to join up. Will Chester answer the call? Of course he will. He's our man....

Did you know that Chester Nez died in 2014, shortly after Code Talker was published? (Source) The Navajo code talkers were commemorated in a "Navajo Code Talker G.I. Joe" action figure. Oh yeah....

This book is so squeaky-clean in terms of sex that we might think Chester is a monk. Except of course we know he's not, because he gets hitched and has kids. But there are no raunchy tales of sex i...