54 pages • 1 hour read
Stuart GibbsSpy Camp
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Incompetent Adults
In Spy Camp, the CIA is staffed by incompetent adults. Alexander and the Academy’s principal are two particularly egregious examples of adult ineptitude, but even Cyrus Hale, renowned spy, is so driven by his ego that he will not listen to Erica when she warns him not to walk into SPYDER’s trap in the farmhouse. This motif serves two important functions in the book: First, the incompetence of the adults allows Ben and his friends to take the lead in situations that would normally be well beyond their level of involvement; additionally, the motif communicates the idea that young people should not be underestimated. While the first function makes the book’s plot possible, the second helps impart the book’s messages of valuing one’s individual contributions, not judging by appearances, and believing that you can make a difference. If the Agency and Academy staff were competent and good at their jobs, there would be no need for Ben and his friends to step in to save the day. The reader may also notice that SPYDER’s operations seem to be run by kids and young adults, further developing the motif.
The Wilderness
For much of the novel, the main characters struggle to survive in the wilderness. They are confronted with natural obstacles like rivers, cliffs, and bears. With limited supplies and no way to safely contact the CIA for backup, the wilderness setting develops an atmosphere of isolation and danger. In the wilderness, people must survive using their skills and knowledge alone. Neither Alexander nor Ben is prepared to adequately cope with the setting on their own. They must rely heavily on Erica’s encyclopedic knowledge to escape. The wilderness is also a location in which they cannot contact the CIA for backup, as they know the CIA is rife with moles and untrustworthy people anyway. The wilderness parallels this feeling of being far from the shelter and safety of the agency. In this way, the wilds of the mountains symbolize the group’s inability to find comfort or security in the “civilization” of the CIA. They are in the wilderness both physically and metaphorically, cut off from communications and supplies and forced to use their wits and survival knowledge to accomplish their dangerous mission.
Individual Strengths
The novel places significant emphasis on the value of each individual and their unique strengths and abilities. This is related to the book’s theme of the importance of teamwork, because a team is stronger when each member is able to contribute something different. This recurring concept also works with the theme of the power of confidence and self-belief, as Alexander and Ben both have to accept the value of their individual strengths before they can grow within the narrative. For Ben, these strengths are his strategic mind and out of the box thinking. He counts himself as inferior to his classmates in many ways, but it’s Ben who is able to approach problems in ways that the other spies wouldn’t consider. This is somewhat because Ben does not yet have the level of skill the others have in terms of marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, and other important spy things; without the ability to best Murray and Joshua in a fight, Ben has to distract and outsmart them. Though the novel promotes the importance of teamwork throughout, in the final confrontation Ben finds himself alone, without the strengths of the others to rely upon. Left with only his own abilities, Ben finds a way to harness his unique approach to stop Joshua Hallal, who is a far more traditionally skilled agent than Ben is.
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By Stuart Gibbs
