The story “The Thirty-Nine Steps” written by John Buchan talks about Hannay, a retired mining engineer back from working in Rhodesia going on an adventure in which he has to warn officials about how the German spies are going to infiltrate Great Britain. Throughout the journey of running away, Hannay faced many problems and risks. At first Mr. Scudder, a freelance spy, was murdered in his apartment. Naturally the police assumed he was the murderer, therefore he had to leave London for Scotland to not be caught. While being chased, Hannay suffered hunger and thirst. Also, he had to decode the cipher written in Scudder’s notebook so he could contact officials just in time, preventing German Spies from getting away. Later, Hannay was caught, trapped, and interrogated by the German Spies. With his knowledge and skills, Hannay was able to successfully escape with some bomb-making materials. Ultimately, Hannay contacted and notified the Foreign Affairs officers about the German Spies’ plan. He disguised himself as a fisherman and risked his life going to the German Spies’ base, which led to the consequences of saving Great Britain as a whole. The reasons why Hannay succeeded on every risk and problem are because he has adequate skills and knowledge, bravery and courage, and very strong feelings of patriotism and heroism.
Hannay’s swift thinking and prompt reactions make him an ideal person for pulling off stunts in order for him to succeed on his missions. The quick reaction requires a person making a correct decision within a short time by using existing resources and knowledge, analyzing the possible plans and consequences, and choosing the best plan with his logical thinking that fits into the current situation. Scudder, a freelance spy, was killed in Hannay’s apartment. Naturally, Hannay was presumed to be Scudder’s murderer. Hannay had to leave London since he did not want to be chased by police and the Black Stone, the real murder. At that moment when Scudder was found dead, Hannay made a quick decision to disguise as a milkman for running away. Hannay was calm when he saw Scuder’s body lay down on the floor in his apartment. With being calm, he had a clear mind to think about what the next step was. At that moment, Hannay knew he needed to do something immediately, or he would be caught by either the police or German spies. In order to prevent that from happening, Hannay had to make a quick and correct decision to run away. Hannay analyzed the whole situation within a short period of time. In his brain, Hannay probably came up with two or more possible plans that could help him escape while “seeing” the possible consequences that could befall him. He then used his logical thinking to choose the most efficient and effective escape plan by using the existing resources which are negotiating with the milkman and disguising himself as a milkman to get away from his apartment. If he didn’t disguise himself and pretended he was just the neighbor walking into his apartment, the German spies would be very suspicious and get him killed. Without quick thinking and immediate response via logical analysis and making use of materials or people around, Hannay was not able to successfully escape from the threatening crisis.
Being brave and courageous are another unique features of Hannay that make him successful at every turn of the run-away journey. It takes bravery and courage for a person to carry out the act of confronting or exposing himself to the enemy since most people might be chicken out when facing life-and-death situations. From Scudder's notebook, Hannay knew the German spies’ plan and where they were lodging. Hannay used the fisherman's identity to confront the German spies and observe them, helping the British Government get the information back. Hannay had the courage to make a bomb to blow a house up in order to escape from German spies. When Hannay realized from Scudder’s notebook that German spies were going to harm his country, Great Britain, he didn’t just give Scudder’s notebook to the police. Instead, he accepted the risks without hesitation and challenged himself to catch the German spies himself. Similarly, Hannay didn’t have any special training about being a spy or special agent. At the most, he was just an ordinary citizen of Great Britain. But Hannay was very brave to put himself into danger of confronting the conspirators and exposing the Black Stone, which could risk his life for the sake of protecting his country. Moreover, normal people would be too scared to make a bomb, as they thought they would die because of the explosion. But Hannay was courageous and still made the bomb to escape, even though he knew that the bomb could possibly take his life. Hannay, through a series of unexpected events, proved himself that he was a brave and courageous person, even in very tough situations. With the virtue of bravery and courage, Hannay was able to successfully escape and catch the German spies.
Patriotism and heroism are the underlying motivations that propel Hannay to do whatever it would take to do righteousness as well as protect the society and country. Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country, while heroism shows great acts of bravery and puts nation’s welfare and interests first before one’s own peril. This feeling of patriotism led Hannay to the road in saving the country and had Hannay experience a great length of journey in order to retrieve the naval plans from the German Spies. Hannay also practiced individual heroism, seeing death as home to save the country and other citizens as his own responsibility. Hannay is patriotic. Originally, Hannay had a luxury life where he didn’t have to worry about safety, but he gave up such life and suffered from running, being wanted and wrongly accused, just in order to rescue his country from the plight. What the readers see is Hannay is a man who is always full of enthusiasm, inspiration, emotions, and spirits in his heart for his country. With such thoughts and feelings, Hannay was determined to fulfill the job as a patriotic citizen who is willing to risk his life in times of national crisis to save his country and society. In addition, Hanny is a person with heroism, like James Bond in 007 or Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible. Why are there heroes in the fictions? A hero is a person who saves many people’s lives. Heroes in fiction exhibit traits of goodness and upstanding morals. We, as the readers, need the hero to encourage us and remind us of being brave and confronting dangerous situations, to do the right things and take the right actions to save others or provide needed help, just like Hannay. He is brilliant, strong, and quick at responding; most important, he loves his country. Hannay’s patriotism and heroism, putting the interests of his country and other citizens ahead of his own safety, work as determination to win the tough situations in order to save his nation.
The Thirty Nine Steps is a thrilling story about a man who was going against authority but saved the country from a national crisis. He was a hero and he used his quick thinking, bravery and courage, and patriotism to pull off a lot of action that occurs in this book. His quick thinking made him escape many challenges and risks that could have killed him. Moreover, Hannay was a very brave person to confront German Spies. He used the tricks of espionage and disguise to win against the Germans. Furthermore, Hannay was a patriot and a hero. He was driven by his love of England, and went into risks to retrieve the map so that he could save his country. He was so patriotic so later he joined the army. He saw death as light as a feather but the nation's interests and welfare as more weighty than a mountain. Although he didn’t prevent the Constatin Karolides from being shot, he prevented the German Spies from doing any more damage.
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