Keith's Spelling

Keith had a lot of spelling mistakes in comparison with Stephen. Although Keith went to the "right" school and Stephen to the "wrong one", Keith's spelling was far from perfect.

There are many examples of these mistakes in chapter 3. When Keith and Stephen found the exercise book that they were going to use to record their investigations, Keith wrote on its cover: "LOGBOOK -SECRIT" meaning secret. One of the first entries in that logbook was  Keith's mother conversation with Mr. Hucknall, the butcher: "1053 hrs. Phones. Asks for 8087. Mr. Hucknall. 3 muten chops. Not to fat", meaning "mutton" and "too" Another example of Keith's spelling mistakes was when he wrote "Privet" on a tile at the entrance of the passageway. He didn't want to refer to the plant, what he really meant was "private".

These mistakes clearly show that Keith is not superior to Stephen in all aspects, as Stephen believes, As we have said in other posts, that is Stephen´s opinion, but he is not a reliable narrator as -among other reasons- his point of view is tainted by his low self-esteem. 

Stephen knew the spelling of these words was wrong but he preferred to keep it to himself because he felt inferior. He was used to being "the led" and to accepting anything Keith said. He never dared to question the leader. Keith is like a god to Stephen and he admires him and he thinks that whatever he does is right and should be humbly accepted.

Braemar

            In Spies there is a very special place where Keith and Stephen used to play together: Braemar. It used to be Miss Durrant´s house but very little remained of it as it had been destroyed by a stray  German incendiary bomb. The kids used it as their hideout and lookout and they planned all their games and adventures there.

              To start with, this "secret" place was full of vegetation due to the thick shrubs that used to be the front hedge of Mrs Durrant´s house. However, Keith and Stephen were able to pass through it and get to the middle of the undergrowth. Besides, among the shrubs there was the privet which the narrator  remembered and was looking for in the first chapter. The smell from these bushes is important because it is the catalyst for the whole story.

               For Keith and Stephen, Braemar was a secret place where they could get away from adults´ surveillance: "There´s only one place we can talk without being observed or overheard".There, they were away from the constraints imposed on them by the adults, and they were able to act following their own rules. It was as if they entered  a completely different world:  "Once we get there we´re across the frontier into another country altogether" They had to leave behind the refinement, luxury and politeness that governed Keith´s house: "We´ve come a long journey from the chocolate spread and the silver picture frames"

           Everything was different between the bushes, where the children´s imagination flowed. On the one hand, objects acquired a new meaning and importance. A  broken piece of metal from a shot-down German plane, the remains of Miss Durrant´s life or the units of ammunition Keith had traded at school were considered precious treasure  and were kept in a locked tin box. A long carving knife found out in the rubble of the house became the famous bayonet with which Mr Hayward had killed five Germans. On the other hand, the children´s behaviour turned wilder and more aggressive there. Stephen was made to take an oath on the sharpen “bayonet” that he would never speak about their investigations or his throat would be cut. This is the first instance in the novel in which they considered hurting each other dangerously.

             In the last part of chapter 2, Keith misspelt "private" and wrote "privet" instead. In Stephen´s memory, the two concepts were linked:  "privets" and their private place. It was only in this privacy (created by the privets)  that they could start their adventure. Their findings would be related to something private as it concerned one of their families and, as Keith made Stephen promise, it should remain private. The story stems both from the smell of the “privets” that are in a private place and from the children´s nosing into private matters.