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Chapter Forty-Two
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 and Inan trudge through the forest, following a series of hidden symbols at the direction of the boy they have captured. Inan fights with all his energy to keep his magic suppressed. In flashes, he sees the pain and fear of Zélie’s life, as well as moments of beauty. He wonders what she would see in his life.
Inan continues to fight his magic, which shows that he’s still holding on to his family’s expectations. Giving in to his magic pushes him further away from his father in two ways: not only does magic mark him as something his father would hate, but it also allows Inan to see more glimpses of Zélie’s past, which reveal how destructive Saran has been.
Themes
They come upon a grove of trees in the valley, arranged in the symbol of the outlaws. Zélie wants to attack immediately, but Inan warns against it. There are masked soldiers stationed all around the camp.
Zélie is focused on finding her brother and believes that an all-out attack will be the best way to achieve that.
Themes
They argue about how to proceed. Inan wants to call guards from a nearby town, but Zélie scoffs, saying the guards would kill them both, as they are divîners. Instead, she says she will learn how to summon enough animations to fight for them.
Inan does not fully understand what life is like for Zélie and people like her in Orïsha. Because of the prejudice against divîners, they fear the guards who should be serving to protect them.
Themes
