Barbara is also used by Frayn to create humour in her own right – she is often the voice of normality in the plots and schemes created by Keith and Stephen. An example of this is on page 165, when she says “It looks more like a carving knife to me” when describing Stephen and Keith’s “sacred bayonet”. This is comic for the reader because it is so blunt, and it also brings both the boys down a level – as previously we have seen them acting rather superior, and as a result of this we find it humorous. It also makes us relate more to Barbara, as she fairly often says what the reader may have been thinking. This is an effective use of Barbara by Frayn because it means that the reader feels more involved in the book, making it potentially more of a success. As well as this, Barbara’s manner of speaking is quite comic for the reader – she uses very long sentences, as if she is overly excited and cannot bring herself to pause for breath. This excitability is endearing to the reader as it is typical of a young child, but is also humorous as a result of this. This is effective because it makes Barbara seem more realistic as a character, but also helps to remind the reader of the youth and naivety of all the children in the book which is important to the plot.
Another similar effect to seeing humour in Stephen by using Barbara Berrill is to bring out a different side to Stephen than the one we usually see in his interactions with Keith (especially in the early part of the book). I believe that ensuring the reader can see several sides to a main character is also an important factor in how successful the book will be, as it makes them seem more realistic. In this first encounter with Barbara, she brings out a much more natural and childish side to Stephen, in that the dialogue between them seems to be typical of children as it is more immature. For example, this exchange on page 97:
“You don’t know!” she taunts.
“Yes, I do.”
“What is it then?”
“I’m not telling you.”
This type of conversation is frequent between Barbara and Stephen, which is a clever technique used by Frayn to make both of these characters seem realistically childlike due to the dialogue. The lines above are very typical things that children say, and so the reader will immediately connect this to childhood. This is especially true of the last line, which seems very immature – it typically shows childish logic to get out of a tricky situation (in that Stephen does not know what Barbara is referring to). Again this makes the reader feels superior to both of the characters, but they again become endearing at the same time as they seem more realistic and are acting more like we believe they should, like children. This use of Barbara Berril is effective by Frayn because of this, and because it brings out the different side of Stephen. This is especially true when we contrast his behaviour with Barbara and his behaviour with Keith – with Keith, Stephen is much more serious and this is not very appealing to the reader as he also becomes very meek and submissive. However, with Barbara he is more childlike and as a result, somewhat more amusing. He also stands up for himself more around Barbara and voices his opinions more openly, and both of these things ensure that he becomes more popular with readers. Frayn effectively uses the character of Barbara as a method of making Stephen a more three dimensional character which will be vital to the success of the book.
The direct contrast between Keith and Barbara is important to ensure that we do see the different side to Stephen – it is important that this contrast is shown effectively. I think Frayn made sure that he would achieve this when he created the character of Barbara. There are numerous obvious differences between the two, such as Keith wanting to be superior constantly, whereas Barbara simply wishes to be friends with Stephen (after the initial conversation where she tries to get Stephen to admit he doesn’t know what “privet” is). As well as these, there are also more subtle contrasts, such as the differences in their smiles. Barbara’s smile is described as “big” and “mocking”, whereas Keith’s smile is described as “dangerous” and “little”. Even this tiny contrast is effective in showing how different these characters are, and ensure that the different sides both of them bring out in Stephen are emphasises as far as possible. If Frayn had made Barbara too similar to Keith, I believe that would have made many parts of the book much less effective as we would not have seen as many different sides to Stephen. In addition to this, I believe the book would not have been as interesting without this direct contrast – I believe that have diverse characters are important to the success of the book and Barbara certainly brings a different personality into the frame.
Another main effect of having Barbara in the book is that she is often the person who tells Stephen the truth about what is really going on – without her, the reader would often be confused about the plot. The main important theory that she suggests to Stephen is the one that involves people having “boyfriends and girlfriends”, especially while many people were away in the war. She is effective as a partial narrator in this aspect of the story because she does not fully understand what is going on herself – as well as planting these ideas in Stephen’s head; she also makes the reader ponder the theories. However, because we do not get the full story or explanation of these it leaves us to really think and create our own theories, which creates interest straightaway but creates shock later when we realise we have been wrong. In addition to this, the lack of understanding also creates suspense as we wait to be told what has really been going on. The use of Barbara in this way by Frayn is effective because of this – it means that the plot can be progressed without giving anything away and helps to create a build up of atmosphere in the book.
In addition to the various individual effects of the use of Barbara Berrill by Frayn, she is also vital to the success of one of the main themes running throughout the book; that of growing up. There are many different aspects within them, especially ones that relate to showing how Stephen matures during the book that would not work without Barbara. She is the character that Frayn centres showing Stephen’s growth around. One of the ways in which Frayn uses Barbara to show Stephen maturing is to show his changing attitude towards girls (and more specifically Barbara) in the book and how she takes away his stereotypical view. The main example of this is looking at Stephen’s initial reactions to Barbara – at the beginning of the book, as mentioned earlier, Stephen is “outraged” at Barbara entering the lookout but later in the book, on page 171, we are told that Stephen’s heart “jumps, first with excitement” upon hearing someone about to enter. This difference in Stephen’s perception of Barbara shows how she is effectively used to show his change in attitude.
How things change in the relationship between Barbara and Stephen mirrors how Stephen changes overall, as the relationship between the two characters matures, Stephen matures also. As a result, the use of Barbara by Frayn needs to be very effective in order to ensure that we believe the relationship and understand how Stephen is changing. Barbara is also important in showing Stephen about some of the things from the adult world – such as starting the smoking, kissing and telling him about “boyfriends and girlfriends”. These events are extremely important in the book, because Stephen needs to understand these things in order to understand what is happening with Mrs Hayward. Frayn uses Barbara effectively here as she is typically how a young girl would be discovering these things for the first time, which makes the book seem realistic to the reader. The smoking event also sees Stephen in charge and showing Barbara how to cope with the cigarette – which is unusual as previously we have only seen him be subdued by Keith. This is also effective in showing how Stephen has changed over the course of the book and shows how important it is that Frayn uses Barbara to good effect.
The main use of Barbara in showing how Stephen matures is in how their relationship slowly becomes more mature – in showing Stephen’s sexual awakening in the book. At the beginning, Stephen notices all the girly features that Barbara has, including “her school frock with the puffy sleeves” and “the fine golden hairs on the brown skin of her legs”. However, at that point in the book he sees these features in an immature light, and looks down on them with scorn and disgust as being “girlish” – he isn’t aware at all of her in a sexual context at all, even though he notices every detail about her. As the book progresses, the reader sees that Stephen is becoming more and more aware – he frequently uses the word “Lamorna” to describe things that could have affected him in this way – for example on page 168, Stephen says “Lamorna is the softness of Barbara Berrill’s dress as she leaned across me.” This shows that he is slowly maturing and beginning to associate specific feelings with Barbara (and Mrs Hayward in the same way). He is also describing her here in a much less scornful and disgusted manner, which also shows the contrast from the beginning of the book – he does not mention how repulsive he find her girlishness and seems more enamoured with it. In this way Frayn uses Barbara to great effect as she is the method of showing how Stephen is maturing. Specifically within this, Frayn uses Barbara as a symbol for Stephen’s growing up – her purse is used as a specific metaphor for his sexual maturing. At the beginning of the book, we are told that the purse is “slung across [Barbara’s] chest and closed.” This represents that Stephen is still innocent and unaware of any of these feelings. However, towards the end of the book we are told that “The purse has come to rest on [Stephen’s] hand.” This shows that these feelings and emotions are a lot closer to him and that they are more accessible to him as he matures. Due to this specific representation, Barbara is very important in communicating how Stephen matures as she carries the motif and is the subject of the feelings. Also, because the method is fairly subtle I believe it is also a very effective method used by Frayn in showing this change to the reader.
Overall, I believe that Barbara Berrill is a very important character in “Spies”, as she contributes largely to the main theme of the book, that of growing up and also plays a part in helping to tell the plot. I would also say that she is used to great effect by Frayn in these ways, as the portrayal of Stephen maturing is achieved very realistically and is made very believable. This is largely due to the character of Barbara and how the relationship between her and Stephen is created by Frayn, of which Barbara is obviously a vital point. I believe that this relationship is a key aspect of the book, and ensuring it was believable and humorous is probably a large factor in the success of the book as a whole. Barbara is also used by Frayn to help develop the character of Stephen overall, another important factor of success. The successful use of her here is shown by the obvious change in Stephen, which is something that makes the book seem realistic and therefore more endearing. Therefore, I would say that Frayn uses Barbara Berrill to great effect in “Spies” in many different ways.
