S PIES N OTES

I N C ONTEXT – A UTOBIOGRAPHICAL ? Time, setting & context for Stephen is from Frayn’s personal experience. He was 12 years old at the end of The War; similar to Stephen For a while he lived in Ewell in Surrey; which is the setting for Spies, where he attended private school and later public school after his mother’s death. He has studied Russian and French and has worked on translating works much like Stefan He was much like Stephen in personality and he had ‘a Keith’ as a friend.

H ISTORICAL C ONTEXT Many authors such as Frayn have re-explored the Second World War in their novels recently, much in the same way as Stefan re-explored his youth. Links have been made between the form of Fascist society of Nazis Germany and the relationship of Keith and Stephen The RAF were seen as one of the central and most important divisions of the UK’s military force, as they kept Britain safe from invasion and played a key role in bombing runs later in the war. This is why Uncle Peter is seen as a hero.

C ONTEXT OF B RITISH A RMY IN WWII There was a large distinction between officers and ‘other ranks’ in the army (link to K & S) The rank was largely influenced by social status e.g. if they joined the army; K would be an officer and S would be one of the ‘other ranks’ The bombing runs were largely controversial even at the time, as they were indiscriminate; civilians would be bombed in order to break morale. However this tactic was used by both sides and as such was deemed permissible. Uncle Peter obviously did not feel comfortable with this however and as such; he deserted.

S PIES AND THE S ECOND W ORLD W AR In the novel, many of the horrors of The War are kept hidden due to the child’s perspective. Is the wartime setting important to the novel? Yes because it gives the reason for Uncle Peter’s breakdown which requires him to hide as a fugitive which is the driving force behind the plot of the novel. Some critics have argued that the setting has also been used to add colour to an otherwise ‘unremarkable’ novel. In other words it makes it more interesting.

U NCLE P ETER ’ S ROLE IN THE RAF It is believed from some subtle evidence within the novel that it is set near the end of The War. As such there would have been bombing runs over much of Germany. This was Uncle Peter’s job and it was highly risky. 55,000 Bomber Command aircrew were killed on missions and half of all aircrew were lost during their first ten missions. Many of them, including Peter; found the prolonged stress intolerable. At the end it is implied that he wouldn’t have been a hero anyway as it was his job to kill people like Stefan’s innocent Aunt.

A C OMING OF A GE N OVEL - 1 Spies is often seen as ‘a coming of age’ novel because it focuses on a young protagonist on the verge of adolescence and how he both develops and remains the same during the course of the plot. Furthermore it shares the common generic feature of this type of novel; of the protagonist’s immaturity causing repercussions for adults, and to an extent; being the driving force behind the novel.

A COMING OF A GE N OVEL - 2 What interested Frayn was how the protagonists slowly realises the truth behind the incidents as he matures There is also a link with nature as, like many coming of age novels; it is set during a British summertime. This time is often used in novels in order to draw a comparison on the season of development and maturation and of coming into full blossom before the Autumn decay and the process of life.

A P OST - MODERN N OVEL These novels often do not give the reader closure and the author often deconstructs the normal rules of language, identity and the writing itself, and reinvents them. They raise many issues and topics and question them There is often a strong focus on the relationship of the author, character and reader. Postmodernism is based on the idea that language is an unstable method of communication. This is evident when S struggles to communicate with other people. In order to fully understand these novels the reader will often have to consult reference texts.

C HAPTER S UMMARIES AND N OTES These are extremely useful but noting them on this PP would be like re-writing the book. The notes run from pg26 – pg 37 and look into certain aspects and key moments of the novel deeper.