Spy Camp

“It’s simply that, when you get a potentially life-threatening message from an organization that has previously sent an assassin after you, it makes sense to inform someone other than a fifteen-year-old girl. Like an eighteen-year-old girl.”

Faced with another threat to his life, Ben chooses not to approach school administrators but instead seeks help from his fellow students, namely, Erica Hale and Tina Cuevo, Ben’s former resident advisor. This reflects Ben’s lack of respect for the adult administrators of the school, supporting the motif of incompetent adults.

“‘You know what it doesn’t have?’ Tina asked sullenly. ‘Crime. It was ranked the second-safest city in the world last year. Its homicide rate is almost nonexistent. What kind of field experience am I gonna get there?’”

Tina’s negative reaction to being assigned to the city of Vancouver—rather than somewhere “dangerous. Mogadishu. Bogotá. Anywhere in Pakistan” (26)—

demonstrates the unique mindset of the Academy students. While Ben still wants to avoid danger and discomfort, the others see it as a symbol of the agency’s faith in them. Tina later laments, “I’m never going to get a death threat. […] Certainly not in Vancouver” (27). Interactions like this make Ben realize how different he is from his schoolmates.

“I’d assumed that all British agents would be well mannered and proper, forgetting that England was also the world’s number one producer of soccer hooligans.”

Ben’s reaction to Claire’s introductory attack at spy camp helps to establish his sense of humor in dealing with the strange developments in his life since his recruitment. Though he is often spoken down to, and many students assume that his “Smokescreen” persona covers actual ineptitude, Ben maintains a generally positive outlook and finds humor in his difficult situations.