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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
The code talkers can’t go home immediately. A couple of code talkers travel to Japan and send messages to the rest, who are in San Francisco. They report on the terrible devastation caused by the atomic bombs. Ned says that although the bombs may have cut the war short, the horrifying reports make him pray that such bombs will never be used again.
After the war, Ned learns more about the terrible suffering caused by the bombs, the use of which remains controversial. Most of the people killed by the bombs were civilians, and as Ned has previously made clear, those individuals were as worthy of dignity and respect as any other human.
Themes
Before leaving the Marines, Ned and the other code talkers are warned that their official role must remain top secret. When they get home, they can’t tell anyone what they really did during the war. Like some of his friends, Ned isn’t sure what to do with himself after the war ends. Life feels too easy.
Assimilating back into civilian life is difficult for veterans like Ned, after spending years immersed in their wartime duties. This difficulty is compounded by the necessity of secrecy.
Themes
Then, during his trip home, Ned has an encounter that shows him what he needs to do. At the edge of the reservation, he goes into a bar to get a Coke. He’s in uniform. In San Francisco, the sight of his uniform drew thanks and greetings from many people. But here, the reaction is different. The bartender angrily points out a “NO INDIANS SERVED” sign and throws Ned into the street. He doesn’t fight back.
After the warm reactions he received in San Francisco, the bartender’s reaction to Ned makes him feel as if nothing has changed from his childhood. His honorable war service makes no difference; all that matters is that he is a Navajo.
Themes
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However, Ned’s Marine service has made him resilient. Instead of resigning himself to hopelessness, he decides to prepare himself for another battle. He decides to take advantage of the G.I. bill to go to college and become a teacher. He wants to teach Navajo language, history, and culture to children so that they will never forget it.
Ned does not react to his setback by becoming depressed or self-pitying. Instead, he reconnects with his childhood goal of becoming a teacher, realizing that there are meaningful battles to be fought on the homefront, too.
Themes
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However, Ned does not meet his goals quickly. His mind and spirit are still wounded from the war. When he gets home to Dinetah, there are not celebratory parades or other recognitions like the ones white soldiers often receive. He is expected to fit back in to everyday life. Ned starts having vivid nightmares about the war. But just when it feels like he will go crazy, his family gets Hosteen Mitchell to perform an Enemyway ceremony for him.
Despite his goals, Ned still needs healing from the events of the war. He cannot transition smoothly into civilian life. Fortunately, his family is supportive, and his rootedness in Navajo traditions helps him once again. His war experience is bookended by spiritual blessings that connect him to his sacred land and people.
Themes
The ceremony brings Ned back into balance. The first night of the ceremony, he has a dream of Bougainville. Everything that had once seemed new and threatening about the jungle now seems beautiful to him. He dreams that Smitty is shaking him awake in the foxhole, telling him that the Japanese have retreated and that everyone is safe. When Ned opens his eyes again, he feels he is “truly home” and can “go forward on a path of beauty.”
Ned’s dream of Bougainville at peace symbolizes the restoration of his inner balance and the healing of his spirit. His reference to the “path of beauty” is an allusion to the Beauty Way, another Navajo blessing.
Themes
Over the years, Ned has worked hard for his people as a teacher. In some ways, he continues to face disadvantages. For example, the G.I. bill will not help people build houses on Indian reservations. But Ned doesn’t give up. He serves in tribal government, working on educational reform.
Ned continues to face discriminatory practices after the war. However, his experiences during the war have only strengthened his resolve, and he works to directly combat his people’s oppression.
Themes
In 1969, the story of the code talkers is declassified. Ned can tell his story. Books are written about them, they are invited to the White House, and they are given medals, like the one Ned is showing to his grandchildren. But the best thing is that Ned and other code talkers can tell their grandchildren how their sacred language helped America.
Once Ned is finally permitted to speak about his role as a code talker, formal recognitions are secondary to the joy of sharing this story with his grandchildren—it is their heritage, too, and he hopes that sharing his story will be a way to remind them and the rest of the world that the Navajo language and cultural are deeply valuable.
Themes
Ned concludes that the story he has told his grandchildren is not just his story—it’s a story of his people and their strength as Navajos. He prays that none of his grandchildren will ever have to go into battle. But he also prays that they will hold onto their language with “warrior spirit” and that they will never forget what it is to be Navajo.
Ned hopes that his story will encourage his children to continue his legacy—not by fighting in war themselves, but ultimately by fighting to remember their sacred language and to stay strong in the culture he has handed down to them.
Themes
