Code of Honor

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2015

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Themes

Persian-American Identity

Kamran struggles throughout the book with the best ways to express his Persian-American identity. Initially, Kamran sees himself as predominantly American. Though his mother is from Iran, she married an American man, and their family looks like many other families in Phoenix, Arizona. Nobody in their household is a practicing Muslim, and though Kamran has the appearance of a dark-skinned Arab male, he feels internally like a typical, American kid.

Kamran’s Persian-American roots become significant when he is targeted by a racist classmate named Jeremy Vacca, and then later confronted with the racist remarks and actions of his entire community after his brother, Darius, is suspected of terrorism. Racist slurs and graffiti nearly make the Smiths decide to move permanently, but Kamran argues otherwise, saying, “We can't just move to another country! We're Americans, no matter what Darius has done” (50).

Kamran’s Persian heritage comes out in the mythic stories of his childhood, and he uses the figures of Rostam and Siyavash to root himself firmly in his cultural identity, his brotherhood with Darius, and his belief that Persian people are heroic. He becomes more confident in this belief system, and more accepting of his heritage, at the end of the novel, when Mickey Hagan reminds him to be strong in the face of hardship: “And it always will be [hard] […] some people will always think less of you for the color of your skin, for the country of your mother's birth […] [w]hich means you always have to be the better man” (272). Ultimately, Kamran finds ways to accept himself and his status as an American despite the bigotry of those around him.

Conflicting Definitions of Patriotism

In Code of Honor, each character seems to have a different idea of what it means to be patriotic. Kamran struggles with these conflicting definitions, just as he struggles to do what he feels is right for his brother and for his country.

Early in the book, Kamran’s idea of patriotism, which is primarily wrapped up in his brother’s military service and his own plans to attend West Point, come into conflict with those of Jeremy Vacca, who calls Kamran racial slurs and suggests that people like him are the problem in America, saying to Kamran, “It's what you and your kind are doing to my country” (8). Later, when the Smith household is graffitied with the word “terrorist,” after news of Darius’s possible defection gets out, the idea of what it means to stand up for your country becomes even more twisted: is the graffiti artist being patriotic? Are the media patriotic for covering the story?

Characters like Mickey Hagan, who criticize the by-the-book nature of homeland security and criminal investigation, redefine patriotism for Kamran. Hagan, Northern Irish by heritage, is more American than many of his native peers because of his belief in goodness and his willingness to do whatever it takes to save lives and get the job done. These many conflicting definitions of patriotism force Kamran to define a code for himself, even if he is the only one who believes in it.

Brotherhood and the “Code of Honor”

Perhaps the strongest theme in the novel, beyond varying conceptions of identity politics and patriotism, is that of brotherhood. Brotherhood drives the plot of the book, and is the inciting force behind every decision Kamran makes. It also inspires Mickey Hagan, who sees himself in Kamran, and acts against his own best interests in order to save the nation. In moments, Kamran’s loyalty to his brother is stronger even than his loyalty to his country: though he knows that Darius could be a terrorist, he refuses to shoot him, risking his own life for the sake of his faith in his brother.

But brotherhood is complicated in the book. Mickey Hagan was blinded by his faith in his brother, Conor, so much so that he wasn’t able to stop Conor from killing himself in a bombing in Northern Ireland. Mickey recalls his ignorance, saying he believed that “Conor wasn’t truly guilty. He couldn't be. I'd grown up with the lad. Knew him better than anyone else” (71). Despite being fooled by his brother’s behavior, Hagan has faith in the bond between Darius and Kamran; their bond is made stronger, in part, by the evidence of codes that indicate Darius has remained faithful to his country and his family. Ultimately, these nuanced stories about brotherhood and loyalty give the true meaning of brotherhood more depth, offering a more complex portrayal of what brotherhood can mean, and that its inherent value is not one-sided, but a mutual bond.

Though Kamran is troubled by the loss of his “normal” life, his most painful moments come when he believes that his brotherly bond has been broken. After Darius holds him at gunpoint, he thinks, “it was down to me. Me and our Code of Honor. My Code of Honor. Because whatever code Darius was living by now, it wasn't the same as mine” (228). These moments of seeming betrayal and loss of faith are the most heartbreaking in the novel, and indicate that though the physical danger in the novel is challenging for Kamran, his value in the power of brotherhood goes far beyond his desire to be safe or to live a typical life.