Espionage (Motif)
The protagonist is introduced as a mining engineer whose life transforms once he is mixed in the world of international espionage. He becomes the main suspect after the American spy Scudder is murdered in his apartment. Hannay is not only on the run from the British police but from a group of German spies known as the Black Stone. Scudder revealed to him an elaborate plan by Black Stone to infiltrate the British intelligence to retrieve their battle plans. The story transforms into an espionage tale about an ordinary man trying to break ciphers while protecting his country’s intelligence.
Assassination (Motif)
The story begins with the assassination of the American spy with top secret information about the assassination plan of a Balkan political figure. Hannay is in possession of this intelligence which puts him in danger of foul play akin to Scudder. The enemy agents in the cat-and-mouse game with the protagonist seek means to eliminate him to protect their plans. The news of the politician’s assassination triggers the start of the war alluding to the beginning of the Great War.
Code Breaking (Motif)
The narrative is an archetypal spy thriller complete with ciphers and codes that the protagonist has to break to find the truth. Scudder leaves a black book filled with encryptions meant to protect the information only for him to figure out. However, Hannay is left with the book with no clue how to break the cipher which includes a reference to 39 Steps. As Hannay is acquainted with more information about the conspiracy he manages to crack the codes and figure out the message.
Conspiracy (Motif)
Before his assassination, Scudder had uncovered a huge conspiracy that involves several European nations. The conspiracy alludes to the tensions before the start of the First World War where nations had different secret agendas. Thus the narrative takes Hannay through the country in a pursuit that ends up revealing more about the plans. The German spies aim to retrieve British intelligence about the impending war while the assassination of the Balkan ambassador is underway. Furthermore the conspiracy behind the thirty-nine steps which Hannay figures towards the end during a covert operation.
