Frayn also included several clues that highlight Stephen’s Jewish heritage-‘the cabbalistic moon’ is a reference on the Jewish religion and its interpretation of the Old Testament. The reference to staying in on a Friday night by Stephen’s mother seems unusual to the reader and we as well as Stephen begin to wonder why. Another clue is revealed when Stephen gets bullied and called a ‘sheeny’ at school. ‘Sheeney’ is a derogatory word for a Jew thus this provokes a very concerned response from his parents. Furthermore, Stephen and his family were called the ‘juice.’ This phonetic pronunciation adds innocence to the term, which is ironic due to the setting of the text, which is in World War 2.
The espionage adventure involves Stephen and Keith spying on Mrs. Hayward in their hideout amongst the privet bush. They follow her around and record her daily routine in their logbook. ‘Keith crosses out BIRDS and writes LOGBOOK SECRIT.’ Keeping a logbook shows how seriously they take this game of espionage, as they are very keen to contribute to the war effort. This idea is strengthened when Stephen states-‘we have to make sacrifices for the War Effort’ as they ‘have to endure hardship for the sake of the Duration.’ Ironically, Keith misspells the word secret. This emphasizes their youthfulness, naivety and childhood innocence and unawareness.
A childish perspective is maintained throughout the naive and innocent portrayal of Stephen and Keith. When they look through Keith’s mother’s diary, they discover crosses-‘the meeting with x’ ‘once every four weeks.’ Unfortunately, they misinterpret the markings of her menstrual cycle as they foolishly come into conclusion that she is having secret meetings with Germans on the dates that are marked with x. This is another example, which puts a heavy emphasis on the boys’ naivety.
Frayn uses three different narrative voices to narrate the story. The story begins in the point of view of the old man first person narrator. Frayn uses present tense to tell the story of Stephen going back to ‘Amnesia Avenue’ to find closure. Frayn uses intrusive and proleptic narration as Stephen tries to locate his ‘source of unrest, of something at the back of it all that remains unresolved.’
The second narrative voice is the old man first narrator reconstructing his memories of his childhood. The use of the third person to describe his childhood self indicates that he feels like a different person and helps to create the impression that he feels alienated from his childhood as it was such a long time ago.
The third narrative voice employed by Frayn uses the first person present tense to depict Stephen as a child. The use of first person allows the reader to have a better understanding of Stephen as a child and helps us to gain a closer insight into Stephen’s life at that time and it lets us share his feelings and thoughts. As well as that, it also makes it more personal and allows Frayn to include more firsthand observed detail and description, which enriches the story.
The setting of this novel is in World War 2. This makes the title ‘Spies’ very appropriate as spying was considered a very topical issue in those days. Also, spies were a key theme in many books and comics in the 1940s era, therefore it reflects the period of uncertainty as Britain were at war with Germany.
The reader becomes spies as we try to figure out if Mrs. Hayward is actually a German spy or not. In addition to this, we also have to find out who the tramp really is and piece together the clues to Stephen’s real identity.
In the same way that Stephen and Keith attempt to piece together the mystery of Mrs. Hayward’s disappearances and her secret meetings, so does the older narrator as he tries to piece together his memories of that summer and its significance in his life.
A sense of mystery is achieved at the beginning of the novel as Stephen’s memory is triggered by the scent of the privet. The ‘sweet and luring reek’ is an oxymoron used by Frayn to illustrate how powerful the vulgar smell is and also to show unsettledness of the narrator. The smell is a signal to show that he is still overwhelmed by unresolved issues from his past. ‘For a moment I’m a child again.’ This phrase has a dreamlike quality to it as the memory seems to bring old Stephen back to his childhood, which makes it sound surreal. It also indicates that the smell has awakened the narrator’s childhood memories. The reader at this point would question why a simple shrub could arouse such strong emotions; as a result, Frayn engages the reader’s attention as we want to discover why Stephen is suddenly troubled. In addition to this, mystery is sustained and the reader is left in suspense.
Both Stephen and Keith have qualities of a spy. They are very discreet and inconspicuous in their hideout when they spy on Keith’s mother. When they are in the privet, ‘no one in the world can see’ them. This implies that they are very secretive about their undercover spying activities.
Furthermore, Stephen is presented as being extremely courageous and daring as he follows Keith’s mother to the tunnels on his own. The setting, which is at nighttime, adds tension because darkness insinuates danger and apprehension. As well as that, tension is raised dramatically as Frayn uses the first person, young narrator here. This contributes in amplifying his loneliness and permits Frayn to include more detail to the story. Additionally, it allows the reader to visualize Stephen’s surroundings more clearly and enables us to relate to Stephen’s emotions and senses at such a crucial point in his life.
When Stephen discovers the box in the tunnel, he finds that ‘there’s no trace of any light reflected from the bottom of the box.’ He looks into sheer ‘blackness.’ This is a metaphor for the overwhelming depth and complexity of his fear. He realizes that ‘there’s something wrong about the blackness-something wrong with the sound of it …What’s wrong is that there is no sound.’ Frayn has generated silence at this point. This increases the tension to a climax and builds up a threatening mood full of fear and danger.
Stephen is presented as being enigmatic when the boys at school bully him by pulling his ears. He remains ‘sustained against them by the sheer importance of the secret knowledge logged between these two abused ears.’ This suggests that Stephen feels superior to his bullies as he thinks that he knows a top secret.
Keith on the other hand is very confident in his manners, decisive and plans ahead their projects carefully. He takes the initiative constantly-‘it was Keith who’d discovered Trewinnick’ ‘It was Keith who’d devised the overhead cableway.’ This highlights the fact that Keith is adventurous and always in control. His characteristic of being precise is displayed when he informs Stephen exactly what to record in the logbook-‘1047 hours milkman arrives.’ Another quality of a good spy is being intelligent and very knowledgeable. This is evident in Keith’s behaviour as he says to Stephen that his mother is ‘a German spy.’
Both Stephen and Keith face danger of being found out by Mrs. Hayward when they are in the tunnel. The mood created by Frayn is sinister and dangerous when the boys realize ‘someone’s coming through the tunnel.’ The short and simple statement, ‘It’s her, I know’ by Stephen indicates that he knows that he is close to being discovered. This helps to convey the feeling of fear and danger which spies inevitably experience.
In conclusion, the title ‘Spies’ is very appropriate as the main theme in this book is spying. As well as this, Frayn has created vivid characters that have the qualities of a good spy through his use of language and narrative techniques. Overall, Frayn has been very successful in combining mystery and suspense throughout the book.
