Themes in Spies?

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could give me some information about the following themes in Spies:
Growing Up
Relationships

I do have some idea, but I just need some confirmation..

The themes are a bit hard to recognise in the novel, I think the easiest to recognise and talk about is probably War..

Anyways,
Thanks to anyone that does reply :biggrin:

Reply 1

02mik_e

growing up/coming of age
relationships
secrecy
ermm. that is all i can think of i ve only read it once

Reply 2

emilina

rite of passage, the sexual symbolism of the tunnel and the way barbara helps stephan grow up with the smoking, kissing etc
what kind of info do you need? im doing spies atm too, re-sit lol.

Reply 3

SuperStaah

emilina

what kind of info do you need? im doing spies atm too, re-sit lol.

Well, I just needed some info on what I would need to write if one of the themes came as a question..
Do you have any basic ideas that I could put down on any themes? I would probably expand on them.. and maybe develop my own thoughts from your ideas..

Thanks :smile:

And good luck for your re-sit!

Reply 4

CyanideKitty

I gleaned this off another Spies thread about themes

Identity
Names
Family
Friendship
Self Identity and Value
Appearance
Age
Nationality
Class Issues
Masculine
Feminine

German V English
Boy V Girl
Young V Old
Past V Present
Poor V Rich
Parents V Children
Childhood V Adulthood
Keith's School V Stephen's School
Close V Lanes
Hayward V Wheatly
Innocence V Experience
Kindness V Cruelty
Light V Dark
Fact V Fantasty
Influence V No Influence
Normality V Abnormality
Barns V Keith's House
Lawful Love V Real Love
Honour V Shame
Clean V Dirty
Moral V Immoral
Keith's Father V Stephen's Father
Keith V Stephen
Repression V Expression
Heros V Cowards
Respectability V Disrespectability
Safety V Danger
Helping V Hindering
Love V Hate
Private V Public
Loyalty V Disloyalty
Auntie Dee V Keith's Mother
Rank V Sweetness
Privet V lamorna
Heimweh V Fernweh

Belonging
Role and Place of Women
Englishness
Sexual Awakening
Perception and How we Interpret the world
Memory
Privacy
Betrayal
Secrecy

Reply 5

shotgunkisses

SuperStaah

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone could give me some information about the following themes in Spies:
Growing Up
Relationships

Growing up - the book is about Stephen's transition from a child to an adult, so he goes through a lot of changes. He starts realising the consequences of his actions, starts taking an interest in girls (Barbara Berrill), and does grown up things like smoking and kissing. Also he becomes more independent, not following Keith's lead all the time.

Relationships - if this is just a general theme then you could talk about the relationships between loads of the characters:
Mr & Mrs Hayward
Keith & Stephen
Stephen & Barbara
Stephen & Mrs Hayward
Keith & his father
Stephen & his family
and discuss similarities and differences.
For example, the way Keith treats Stephen echoes the way Mr Hayward treats Mrs Hayward and Keith - bullying, lots of discipline, but in a restained way.
& there's a lot to say on the relationship with Stephen and Keith, with Stephen being the follower all the time even though he knows Keith can be wrong - e.g. when Keith spells 'Privet' wrong, Stephen lets it pass because he knows Keith is the leader.

Can't think of anything else :smile:

Reply 6

SuperStaah

Okay thanks shotgunkisses! That deffinetly did help :smile:

And thanks everyone else aswell!
:biggrin:

Reply 7

emilina

SuperStaah

Thanks

And good luck for your re-sit!

thanks
Also, despite the fact Keith is the leader, Stephen is much more mature, and many of his ideas are actually possible, where as Keith's are very childish.
make sure you mention the tunnel if you talk about growing up. its a representation of them growing up, once they have come out of the tunnel they are no longer children.
And his relationship with Barbara is also closely linked with his relationship with Mrs H. He often talks about both of them when he talks about kissing and Lamorna etc.
Good luck to all on wednesday lol. :s-smilie:

Reply 8

leat90

HELP!

im so crap at Spies and seem to be gttin progressivly worse! :frown:

i am tryin to revise! and am picking key themes and characters and will find quotes.... if anyone has some to start me off will be much appreicated!
also if any1 wants to discuss spies in general (however boring it is!) am also up for sharing ideas!

any other revision tips are much appreciated!

good luck for all on wednesday!
xx

Reply 9

leat90