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Chapter Eighty-Three
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Children of Blood and Bone, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Prejudice and Inequality
Duty to Family vs. Self
Faith and Tradition
Cycles of Violence
Summary
Analysis
Zélie tries to channel energy from the ashes of the scroll, but to no avail. She tries to remember the incantation inscribed on it, but barely can. Light begins to fill the chamber, a sign that the solstice is happening. She tries to reach out to the spirits of the temple priests for help, but all she feels is Baba and the magic in her own blood.
The sudden loss of Zélie’s father is so devastating that it’s difficult for Zélie to focus on what she needs to do. Without him, she feels both personally lost and disconnected from her faith and magic, just as she did when her mother died.
Themes
Zélie realizes there may be another way to reach the Sky Mother. She thinks about drawing a connection through all her ancestors, through their blood. The mercenaries are still fighting against all odds, and so should she, Zélie thinks.
Instead of focusing on her personal connection to the gods, Zélie thinks more broadly about the community of divîners who are connected to each other and the past through their faith. That connection is where the real strength of their belief lies.
Themes
Zélie picks up the sunstone and thinks not of magic but of the blood and bone connecting her to the past. She thinks of her mother. She slashes open her palms with the bone dagger and presses them to the sunstone, pleading to her ancestors as she does so. She feels the power of her ancestors, both maji and kosidán, flowing through her. She feels their energy pulsing through her. The sunstone shatters and light fills the room as she feels magic coursing through every being, connecting them all.
Instead of thinking of magic itself, Zélie thinks of the community of divîners who support each other through their magic and practices. This connection is actually extremely powerful. She also realizes that this community extends beyond the mere connections of blood. Non-maji who have helped and loved her are also part of the wider family of ancestors who have helped her get to this point.
Themes
