The Haywards: Appearance and Reality

               At the beginning of the story, as described in previous posts, Stephen idealises the Haywards. In his distorted view, the Haywards are the perfect family and Stephen wishes his own family were like them. Little by little, we realise how unreliable Stephen's point of  view is and we start perceiving the conflicts and the dark truth behind the Haywards´ immaculate white walls. Stephen also realises his initial conception of Keith´s family was inadequate, but his understanding of their problems is still not complete. We- readers-. are sometimes a step ahead him in interpreting the clues provided by his close observation of this family. A good example of this difference is provided by  chapters 8 and 9.

Growing up (chapters 8 and 9)

Growing up is a difficult process, and it brings about some ambivalent feelings in Stephen.

In chapter 8, Barbara is with Stephen at Braemar. She finds the cork tip of a cigarette on the floor of the hideout and suggests smoking it. As they don't have matches, Barbara wants to open the trunk where Stephen and Keith hide their secret objects, but Stephen doesn't want to betray his friend showing Barbara their hidden possessions. However, Barbara gets around Stephen to do it by seductively leaning across him . The “weight and the softness of her and the movements of her body as she pulls the padlock back and forth” seem to make Stephen forget about his oath to Keith. He describes his feelings as a kind of “vertigo”, as if “there is no firm ground anywhere.”

Stephen´s hypotheses

Stephen´s hypotheses change a lot along the novel. At the beginning, Stephen believed  Keith´s mother was a spy helping the Germans. Later, this first hypothesis evolves into the belief that Mrs Hayward was  having an affair with a shotdown German pilot whom she is also helping to survive. 

Everything starts when Keith tells Stephen the six words: “My mother is a German spy”. Stephen is surprised and excited about the idea of going out and investigating. The first hypothesis that comes up to his mind is “She has her eye on all of us”, and together with his friend Keith, he starts  observing her closely and following her around. They believe she is passing information about the neighbours in the Close to the Germans. They even consider the idea that she might have been responsible for the destruction of  Miss Durrant´s house.

Questions on chapter 8-section 3

Chapter 8 (from "Nothing to stop her" to "Between us we´ve destroyed the evidence")

Answer the following questions:

1. How has Barbara´s mother discovered the peeping Tom?
2. What do Barbara and Stephen know about their siblings´ joint activities ?
3. What does Stephen brag about?
4. What do they find on the ground of Mrs Durrant´s house? Whose do they think it is?
5. How does Barbara get around Stephen to open his secret trunk?
6. What do they use the matches for? Comment on the roles of the children in this new experience and the reasons they want to try it.
7. Spies draws on the tradition of coming-of-age novels. Why? How is the growing up process described in this chapter?
8. How is Stephen and Barbara´s relationship changing?
9. Whose cigarette does Stephen suddenly realise it might be?

Questions on chapter 8- second section

Spies- Chapter 8 (from “`Can I see inside your secret box thing?´” to “Nothing to stop her”)

TRUE OR FALSE? CORRECT THE FALSE STATEMENTS.

1. The following day, all the children of the street are outside Auntie Dee´s because Uncle Peter has returned.
2. Auntie Dee´s ever-smiling face looks worried this time.
3. The next house the policeman visits is Trewinnick
4. When the policeman emerges to the street again, Stephen regrets his own inaction. He´s done nothing either to help or to stop Keith´s mother.

AS YOU READ THIS SECTION, UNDERLINE QUOTATIONS THAT SHOW THE CHANGES IN STEPHEN´S RELATIONSHIP WITH KEITH AND WITH BARBARA BERRILL.

Quick revision on chapter 8- first section

SPIES- Chapter 8 (up to “`Can I see inside your secret box thing?´”)

TRUE OR FALSE?

1. Stephen feels shut out of the Haywards´world.
2. He decides to tell what´s going on to an adult
3. Barbara Berrill intrudes in the hideout again
4. Keith is the one who does the shopping for his mother and his aunt now.
5. Compared to Stephen, Barbara seems to have a greater understanding of what is going on at the Haywards'
6. Mr Hayward seems to guard his wife closely now. (Justify your answer explaining what the children see from Braemar.)
7. Mrs Haywards refrains from asking  for Stephen´s help because she sees he is with Barbara.

SUMMARISE BARBARA BERRILL´S HYPOTHESIS ABOUT WHO THE “PEEPING TOM” IS