Essay Questions

What is the significance of the novel’s title?

The full title of the book is lengthy but it fully captures the essence of the novel: Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir by One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of World War II. The novel is about more than just the unique coded language that allowed the American Forces to win the second world war. More than that, it is perhaps the only work of non-fiction that records the journey of the unique individuals that created the code allowing the reading audience a glimpse into something previously unheard-of: the culture of the Navajo people.

How do the themes of communication and identity intersect in the novel?

War, at least on the surface, is about trading shots and blows. Beyond that it can also be said that it is an issue of communication and the transference of information. This is truly the lifeblood of battlefield maneuvers and the American forces wouldn’t have won the war if they hadn’t been able to develop a military code that the Japanese couldn’t crack. Whereas previously the Japanese could predict battlefield movements because they could understand their opponents, now they were as good as blind and deaf. The Navajo language however was truly pivotal as there was no other language like it on earth and the Japanese, even their most seasoned cryptographers, had never encountered anything like it before or since. Beyond The Code’s use as a battlefield language however is the even more vital matter of it being rooted deeply in the Navajo language--a unique system of communication used by Native Americans, a marginalized people group in Continental North America. Through The Code the Navajo people contribute something truly great into the annals of history: the preservation of countless lives that built up to the end of a long and bloody conflict by giving something of themselves; their language. On a personal level, this is also of particular significance to Chester, the titular Code Talker, as the creation of the Code is symbolic of him making peace with his dual ethnicity.

What does “The Code” symbolize in the novel?

The Code is a multilayered symbol that represents many things. In a very real sense The Code is a weapon against the Japanese and it is symbolic of victory. It is also a very tangible symbol of both the resourcefulness of the US Marine Corps and the bravery of the Navajo recruits; many of them practically just high school kids at the time of their enlistment. Perhaps the most important thing The Code has come to symbolize is this: a vital contribution to the world stage and peace efforts and a means of bringing into the forefront an aspect of American culture that was previously swept under the rug--the Navajo people. The Code itself is representative of the Navajo people and their indelible but vital contribution to world peace.