Code of Honor

Alan Gratz

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2015

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Chapters 20-22Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 20 Summary

The disheveled agent who had shared the interrogation room with Tomaszewski comes into Kamran’s cell, bringing his a chair in with him. He assures the guard that handcuffs won't be necessary, and then introduces himself to Kamran as CIA analyst Mickey Hagan. He asks Kamran if he can tell him a story, which he hopes will help illuminate some of Kamran's own struggles.

Mickey Hagan tells the story of his upbringing in Northern Ireland, explaining “The Troubles” to Kamran, who knows nothing about them. As a Catholic, Hagan and his brother, Conor, were persecuted by Protestants, and looked at as violent terrorists. He explains, “If you were a Catholic, the Protestants always looked at you like you had a bomb under your coat. But maybe you know what that feels like already” (70). Hagan then tells Kamran that he and his family moved to Galway, in the Republic of Ireland, where Hagan got good grades and joined the military, hoping to go into intelligence. He explains that his brother, Conor, continued to get into trouble, becoming something of a zealot for Irish reunification. Hagan defended his brother, because he believed he couldn't do any harm: “Conor wasn't truly guilty. He couldn't be. I'd grown up with the lad. Knew him better than anyone else” (71). Kamran empathizes with Hagan’s story, realizing he has a similar belief about Darius.

Chapter 21 Summary

Hagan then continues with a story about a man who was part of the IRA, or Irish Republic Army, a terrorist organization bent on Irish reunification. The man walks into a fishmonger shop where a conflicting terrorist group, the UDA, is having a meeting. The man plans to scare away innocent customers downstairs with a gun before setting a bomb and blowing up the UDA leadership, but the bomb goes off early, killing eight innocent customers, a UDA man who works as the fishmonger, and the bomber himself, as well as injuring 50 people outside the shop. Hagan reveals that the bomber was his brother, Conor. Hagan had believed every lie Conor had told him about his intentions and his actions that day, and Conor had died because of it. Kamran relates to this story: “All my life I'd thought one thing about Darius, and now he was maybe something else, and it was like his whole life was a lie. And mine too, for believing him” (74).

Kamran reveals to Hagan his thoughts on the story, and tells Hagan he still can't believe Darius could be a terrorist. Hagan, to Kamran's shock, concurs that he has a hard time believing Darius is a terrorist, too.

Chapter 22 Summary

Kamran expresses his confusion about Hagan's belief that Darius is innocent. Hagan explains; after his brother was killed, he found it impossible to trust his gut, and began to second-guess himself at every turn. Hagan moved to the US because the IRA didn't want the brother of a known terrorist in their intelligence agency, and Hagan began a well-paying if pathetic career as a spy that couldn't trust his own gut. He explains the pain of this to Kamran, who empathizes.

Hagan then explains that he has a certain belief about Darius:

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I've got a gut feeling about your brother, Kamran. I think he's what you've been saying he is all along: a loyal American soldier who got captured, and who's now doing his damndest to tell us everything he can about what his captors are up to so we can stop them (76).

Hagan encourages Kamran to continue to believe in his brother, and asks if Kamran thinks that’s still possible. Kamran says yes, a bit hesitantly. Hagan asks if they can go over the videos of Darius again, to look for clue

Chapters 20-22 Analysis

Themes of brotherhood and loyalty are significant in these chapters. Hagan reveals the story of being duped by his own brother, who was a terrorist in Northern Ireland. He mourns the loss of his brother and guilts himself over his own inability to see the truth. Though Kamran initially sees this as an argument against helping Darius, Hagan ultimately reveals that this story is about the power of brotherhood, and the need to act in times of desperation. Though Hagan seems to believe in Darius, Kamran still has his doubts: “All my life I'd thought one thing about Darius, and now he was maybe something else, and it was like his whole life was a lie. And mine too, for believing him” (74). Ultimately, these chapters are about the damaging impact of self-doubt and denial. Hagan tells Kamran about his own experience of denial in order to push Kamran to follow his intuition, and save his brother.

These chapters also indicate the way that Kamran has been alienated because of his faith in his brother. The bond that he forms with Hagan over their shared experience allows him to feel less alone, and thereby makes him stronger. Through Mickey’s story of self-doubt, Kamran is inspired to have confidence in himself.