Spies. Describe the means Frayn uses to tell Stephen's story

Authors Avatar by luli-94 (student)

Lucy Licence

Describe the means Frayn uses to tell Stephens story

The Second World War broke out in September 1939 under the direction of Adolf Hitler, the British mainland was never invaded, but was subject to bombings during the blitz. At the centre of this was ‘the Close’ in which two inquisitive boys sought understanding into the adult world, with terrifying consequences. This bildungsroman tells the story of protagonist Stephen, a painfully shy boy who is aware of what he considers his own social inferiority, and  is in awe of his domineering friend Keith, through a variety of means, typical of modernism, about a summer in which six words “changed everything. As words do”.

Frayn presents Spies in a conversational, informal style to tell Stephens story in which the sequence of the narrative is often interrupted with frequent and sometimes abrupt interjections and intrusions by the first person narrator. This is reflected in the way that the reader is invited to accompany Stephan down “Memory Lane”, particularly “Amnesia Avenue” in a way that he often talks directly to himself, rather than to the reading audience, as he struggles to remember what happened. Therefore his stream of consciousness is often presented instead of Frayn using meticulous prose “No wait. I’ve got that wrong”. The use of this conceit, in which Frayn is purposely giving the narrator a hesitant voice, partnered with the use of a two word monosyllabic sentence to reinforce the idea that the narrator is struggling to recall details of the past, as he is now senile. This helps the reader relate to Stephens character as memory loss happens to everyone with time, evoking a sense of empathy.

Join now!

Spies is told through first person split narrative between the elderly Stefan Weitzler and the younger, incredibly naive “Stephen Wheatley...Or just plain Stephen...On his school reports S.J.Wheatley...”. By using this narrative technique, Frayn is effectively conveying to the reader the hindsight and experience of an older man who in chapter 1 creates a biased and restrictive perspective through his vagueness of “liguster” and “those six words” compared to the innocence and misunderstandings of an inquisitive child. Through the retrospect of the story Stephens confusion and misinterpretations are reinforced as we discover in the novel that an adults world is as ...

This is a preview of the whole essay