Essay Beryl's Word For Picnic Was 'Baggin'

Eric Wilson

Ms. Gourd

Pre-AP 10th ELA

March 27, 2018

Hostage

Held hostage in enemy occupied France, Julie must tell the Nazis everything she knows about Great Britain. She persuades the enemy to let her write a letter, so she tells the story of her friend and her up to that point. Code Name Verity shows many aspects of a certain culture. The cultures in this novel are British, German, and French. The book is actually about a British woman held captive by Germans in France.

There are many elements of culture displayed throughout this novel. One example of culture in this novel is on page 10, saying, “Beryl’s word for picnic was ‘baggin’.” This shows that although the U.S. and England both talk in the english language, they do use different

If Julie would have been from somewhere else then her being in enemy territory wouldn’t have mattered. Julie explains the reason she her being there was bad, saying, “September 1939 Britain declared war on Germany.” (Wein page 27). This quote shows that Britain and Germany are at war and a British woman is found in Germany which is what sparks all of this novel. Another quote that talks about how culture affects this novel is when Julie explains how she was captured by the enemy, saying, “I had been in France less than 48 hours before that obliging agent of yours had to stop me being run over by a French van full of French chickens because I’d looked the wrong way.” (Wein page 6-7). This quote shows that since Julie had looked the wrong way before crossing the street she was captured, if she hadn’t been British during this time period then this novel would be much different. Another example of how culture affects this novel is when Julie explains why the man claimed to capture her, saying, “Therefore she must be British, and is likely to have parachuted into Nazi-occupied France.” (Wein page 7). This also shows that since Julie looked the wrong way while going across the street she was captured only because Britain and Germany are at war. If the two counties were not at war this book would be tremendously