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
That night, the three teenagers are hailed as heroes in the city. Zélie is called “The Immortal,” Tzain “The Commander,” and Amari “The Lionaire.” Amari feels like an imposter. She is disturbed by the fact that she killed someone, an echo of King Saran’s commands.
On the one hand, when Amari didn’t want to fight, she felt weak and helpless. But now that she has actually killed, Amari feels that she has gone against her moral compass and has wrongly contributed to the already significant body count in the struggle for power in Orïsha.
Active
Themes
Quotes
Amari also feels heartened that they are closer to bringing back magic and to avenging Binta. Tzain tries to convince Amari that she should go home to avoid having to kill again. But thinking about how she’s followed her family’s orders all her life, Amari rejects his suggestion. She tells him she wants to stay, to fight for what’s right. She’s also heartened when he says that he wants her to stay, too.
Amari also recognizes that in certain moments violence is warranted, especially in a fight to bring justice and peace. Hoping to continue on the path of fighting for what she believes is right rather than following her father’s wishes, Amari decides to stay and help Tzain and Zélie.