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Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Code Talker, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Memory, Language, and Identity
The Navajo Way and the Life of the Warrior
Culture and Patriotism
War, Healing, and Peace
Summary
Analysis
Ned and his uncle journey several days to reach Rehoboth Mission in Gallup. Ned never forgets the journey—they sleep under the stars, cook delicious meals over the campfire, and share precious time together. When they reach the school, Ned’s uncle is told to leave right away. He tells Ned, “You will remember,” and drives away without looking back.
Ned’s journey with his uncle gives him precious memories of his family’s and people’s ways. He doesn’t realize it yet, but he will later need these memories to survive in a hostile environment.
Themes
Ned, clutching his few belongings, sees other Navajo children standing around uncertainly. Like Ned, they are all dressed in their finest clothing and jewelry—meant to show their new caregivers how precious they are to their families. The children begin to introduce themselves to one another in the Navajo way. They tell each other their names and clans and where they are from. They tell each other the names of the clan they were born to (the mother’s clan) and the clan they were born for (the father’s). This helps them recognize their relatives. The familiar greeting ritual makes Ned feel less sad.
The children instinctively fall back on traditional Navajo greetings to help them navigate their uncertainty and fear. The ritual comforts Ned, making him feel grounded and balanced. Seeking balance through familiar customs will be a key to Ned’s survival throughout his life.
Themes
Ned does not always understand the other children’s dialects, since they come from far-flung areas of Dinetah. But the greeting exchange makes Ned feel peaceful, because they are following their elders’ ways and “putting [themselves] in balance.” Suddenly, however, a large, red-faced white man appears on the school’s porch and roars at the children to be quiet.
Dinetah is the word for the entirety of the traditional Navajo homeland. Finding balance is an important part of Navajo practices—as here, such practices help people orient themselves in the world. But the children are abruptly thrown off balance again, as Ned will be challenged over and over again throughout his story.
Themes
Although most of the children have met white people before, they’ve never seen one with red skin, hair, and beard before. The man continues to yell at the children to look up at him. The children don’t yet understand that among white people, it’s considered polite to make eye contact. For the Navajo, this is only done when you are about to attack an enemy.
This is an example of a dramatic cultural difference that easily leads to miscommunication. However, the white teacher seems to have made no effort to understand such a basic difference, which hints at the suppression of Navajo culture that Ned will soon experience.
Themes
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Then, a Navajo man steps forward and introduces himself as Jacob Benally. The children have never seen a short-haired Navajo man before, or one who is dressed like a white man. Jacob Benally sadly explains to the children that they must never speak Navajo—only English. He teaches the children how to say “hello.” Then he has to return to his job in the stables.
The Navajo translator’s “white” appearance is another example of something that throws the children off balance, reminding them that they are on unfamiliar turf. As it turns out, it’s unfriendly turf, too—their very language is being taken away from them.
Themes
Looking back on it, Ned can see how this policy forced him to master English quickly. On the other hand, he always remembers the sadness he felt when he understood Principal O’Sullivan’s words: “Navajo is no good […] Only English will help you get ahead in this world!” Ned soon hears the same message from his other teachers—everything Indian must be forgotten.
From their arrival at the school, the message is forced on the children that most of the important aspects of their identity are worthless and must be abandoned if they are going to be of any use to the larger world. Ironically, though, it’s exactly these aspects of themselves that will eventually become crucial assets to the United States and the world more broadly.
Themes
