The Thirty-Nine Steps: Chapter Five Close Reading Sarah T. N. Koki College

The fifth chapter of John Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps documents the transformation of protagonist Richard Hannay into his fourth disguise. Hannay, a mining engineer bored with the melancholy of his life in London, is suddenly thrust into the world of political espionage after the murder of his neighbor and freelance spy Franklin Scudder. After discovering Scudder’s body in his flat, Hannay escapes to Scotland to avoid false charges of homicide and the Black Stone, a group of German spies on a mission to destabilize Europe. Now on the run with Scudder’s notebook, Hannay moves through various personalities to evade the Black Stone spies. This particular chapter follows Hannay into the Scottish moors where he meets roadman Alexander Turnbull, whom he pretends to be for both his and Turnbull’s benefit.

One of the most striking features of the chapter is Buchan’s particular word choice, which gives three distinct tones to its passages. First is Hannay’s impression of the roadman and his dress. Hannay notes Turnbull’s ‘filthy, old hat’ the ‘foul stump of a clay pipe,’ and the ‘vulgar’ color of the shirt gifted to him by Sir Harry. Buchan employs such diction to form the foundation of Hannay’s disguise and allows the rest of his...