Essay: Non-fiction History: Navajo Code Talkers by Nathan Aaseng

Navajo Code Talkers is actually a tale of a specific group who in accordance to their contributions should be thought to be the bravest, most loyal and most worthy individuals of American soldiers who played heroic roles in World War II. It is an amazing non-fiction history that sends you back to the period of World War II and tells you a saga that you may imagine happening in front of your eyes. It is a story portraying the important role of young and brave Navajo men who got selected in marines and were taught to utilize their native language in the form of encrypted code for execution of missions in the Pacific.
The story commences with how the Navajo people got their villages and cropland burnt. Colonel Kit Carson was compelled to do this. The main characters of the story that played a positive role are the 3600 Navajos in the World War II. The amazing part of the story that is a worth read is how the Navajo learned the codes. The story highlights the bravery of Navajos about how they risked their lives in the war to run the radio instrument.
The Allied forces, during World War II, were required to search a way out to convey their messages to each other quickly without any danger of getting understood by the enemies as the Japanese were also able to listen their communicative messages and they could plan according to what Allied forces had the information of. No code was working for long as the encrypted secret codes could be decoded quickly and there was a need of extremely complex and strong codes to be delivered to the desired receivers without having the Japanese aware of the meaning. So a solution was devised in the form of Novajo codes which was a very tough and intricate language. The codes were used to be like “”Al-tah-je-jay dsibeh wol-la-chee tkin bi-sodih wol-la-chee nesh-chee.” Which translates “Attack sheep ant ice pig ant nut”
The language was even exotic and non-comprehensive for the Native Americans. So, the codes based in this language were the strongest codes ever devised in history. The Navajos were recruited to develop the codes and it helped dramatically in interacting with each other secretly. The code talkers were serving in the front lines and were reporting about the enemy’s strategy, progress and any requests of reinforcement.  The Japanese who were happy to have broken all the other complicated codes used by the Americans were unable to decipher the codes of Novajo language.
This is actually a military history written by Nathan Aesang who was brought up in Minnesota and he worked for four years as a microbiologist and then started the writing and has written more than one hundred books for young readers. The author lives in Wisconsin. Apart from being a microbiologist Nathan had a dream of writing as he always enjoyed writing and he dedicated one year to write with focus to take his first break as a writer .  Nathan’s inner spirituality and motivations forced him to write the book about patriotism. The main objective of the book was to give a tribute to the unsung heroes of the World War II.
The book is a beautiful account that highlights a little-known sacrifices and contributions of the Navajos in World War II. It was a civil engineer who spent his life among the Navajos and suggested the great idea of coding the messages. It was the biggest breakthrough in the history of US intelligence against Japanese. Nathan beautifully describes the whole process through which the volunteers of code wording had to pass to learn and make use of complex codes. He gave many examples of the dangers that Americans had to endure because of the culture difference. The book is very interesting and short and there are many illustrations with photographs.
The book attracts readers with versatile interests like cryptography, army intelligence and history. The book is written with passion and is a great piece to read. Language is easy but some room is left in information. Further the book is a little slow and one may lose interest till end. Overall it is a good read to known about the whole history of Navajo code development and their aspirations. The book inspires a lot about the time and creates a fantasy of the brave Navajos and their chivalry.
Fiction: Code Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac
Code talker by Joseph, a historic fiction, is a great work of art. The author basically describes all the scenario of the World War II and the process of Navajo code development. Brushac created a fictious character of a Boy “Ned Begay” who took part in development of the historic code in World War II. The whole saga revolves around the life of Begay and the events are detailed beautiful. While reading the book, an imaginary world appears in the eyes of reader and he feels as witnessing the entire story. The book has 28 chapters that cover different times of the Ned’s life and the story grips the readers’ attention till the end. The story has many lessons, information about history, code talking and it is a recreational study as well.
The book basically portrays the history of World War II When Navajo code speakers were a significant part of the US intelligence, communicating directly in native language. The best part is they saved countless American lives. The story remained unknown for many years but then Joseph Brushac brought their tale to inspire the young ones by concocting the fictional saga of Ned Begay, a 16 year old Code talker . The whole journey of Ned is motivational and an eye-opener. This deeply inspiring novel is a tribute to all the young men of that time who had the courage to serve and it honors the language and culture of the Navajos.
Ned Begay the hero attended the boarding school and was prohibited to speak his native language Navajo in the school and was told he might be punished if he speaks that language. Later, he was selected in Marines along with other men from Navajo to get training to become a code talker, for conveying messages in World War II. The story glorifies the cultural and personal development of a young boy in life.
The whole scenario of war is described thoroughly in the book. Even the feelings are expressed when someone loses a friend in war. Reader can get emotionally attached to the character of the novel. The main idea is that the hero was told in childhood that he is going to be nothing in his all life but when he left high school he was on his way to a big achievement.
Brushac holds an MA degree in literature and creative writing. He has been working as an educator for eight years . He is famous for his beautiful prose writing and has the art to capture the audience attention with fantasy world’s feelings in every story.
The book inspires the young ones a lot to do something in their lives, to make a difference and to stand up for a cause. Not all the parts of the book are riveting, the logics of scenes, feelings and impressions in the dialogues and events make a memorable and loveable portrait of Ned Begay that impresses the reader a lot.
The flaw I found in the book is that it reads very slowly in the introductory chapters. It is an awesome work that gives a tribute to the brave Navajos with a fiction story.
The interesting thing that I learnt from this history course is that the historians write up their ideas in the context of history with passion and make them alive in front of your eyes. The history written is reliable and logical in both genre of history writing either fiction or nonfiction. These readings make the reader learn and get inspired from history and help them to have a look on the big picture of life. One can learn the culture and traditions of old times. Reading of history is a kind of time machine which can let you travel through the time, back to the days you were not even born. History reading is a food for thought and recreation for spare time.