40 pages • 1 hour read
John BuchanThe Thirty Nine Steps
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1915A 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
Nature
The motif of nature reflects Hannay’s emotional progression through the novel. Early in the story, the beauty and peace of the Scottish landscape align with Hannay’s lighthearted embrace of his situation: “I might have been a boy out for a spring holiday tramp, instead of a man of thirty-seven very much wanted by the police” (26). For most of the early chapters in Scotland, Hannay expresses similar satisfaction with the sights, sounds, and hospitality that he finds across the moorlands. Even in Chapter 6, when he awakes after spending a night in the open, his primary complaint is of hunger, not discomfort from the elements. Though nature becomes less prominent when Hannay returns to London, Buchan continues to mention it. In Chapter 10, when Hannay is especially anxious, he finds a moment of peace: “Out in that dancing blue sea I took a cheerier view of things” (115). As with earlier instances, the positivity of this moment is signaled through the description of nature using positive attributes like “dancing.”
The longer Hannay is pursued, however, the more he feels challenged by the landscape. In Chapter 5, before he evades capture in the guise of the roadman, he feels the strain of being in the open: “The free moorlands were prison walls, and the keen hill air was the breath of a dungeon” (53). This metaphor acknowledges that though the land itself is “free” and “keen,” his situation diminishes the ability of those qualities to offer him comfort. Therefore, Hannay’s shifting view of nature reinforces the theme of Appearance and Reality. The land does not change as Hannay traverses it, but how he views it shifts with his emotional and physical state.
Newspapers
Newspapers serve as a motif of globalized information. They help illustrate the theme of How Ordinary People Do Extraordinary Things, in this case by being well-informed. Especially in the novel’s first half, Hannay depends on newspapers to keep him updated on developments around Great Britain and the world. On board trains and at the inn in Chapter 3, he considers news of Europe alongside his decoding of Scudder’s notebook. Part of Hannay’s skill is in seeking information, as when he sends the innkeeper for a local paper and later in Chapters 5 and 7 borrows Turnbull’s newspapers. Several times he consults the Scotsman, a paper that continues to be in publication. First founded as a radical political paper in Edinburgh in 1817, the Scotsman further aligns with Scottish independence and the theme of Individualism Versus Bureaucracy. As in the real world, the information provided in newspapers depends on the powers influencing its production and dissemination. Additionally, Sir Harry’s ignorant repetition of talking points from pamphlets sent by his uncle demonstrates how printed knowledge can be misused. However, Hannay’s choice of outlets and processing of what he learns demonstrate the power of news in the hands of intelligent individuals.
Markers of Modernity
Though Hannay initially desires to escape London for a “wild district” (19), he is also aided by modern technologies. As motifs, these markers of modernity signal the growing power of technology in the early 20th century, especially in WWI.
While Hannay traverses the moors and highlands of Scotland, he uses a car, a bicycle, and trains while being pursued by an “aeroplane.” He states this juxtaposition in Chapter 4 when he rides away from Sir Harry’s on a borrowed bicycle and seeks “where the main railway to the south could be joined, and what were the wildest districts near at hand” (50). Though the Scottish moorlands aid Hannay, providing physical shelter and emotional comfort, they—and he—cannot stop the encroachment of technology. These tools play a role at the climax of the novel as the focus shifts from land to sea. The Black Stone’s plot centers on stealing naval secrets that would be of strategic advantage to Germany at the outset of a war. In Chapter 10, a British naval destroyer overtakes the Black Stone’s getaway yacht, foreshadowing the prominence mechanized oceanic confrontations will take on during the war.
