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Chapter Fifty-Four
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Children of Virtue and Vengeance, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power and Systems of Oppression
Cycles of Violence
Tradition and History
Love vs. Duty
Summary
Analysis
Kâmarū carries Zélie into the infirmary. Zélie holds tight to Mâzeli’s hand as Khani and the other Healers circle. Zélie and Mâzeli’s heartbeats slow; they need a blood sacrifice to maintain the connection. Mâzeli asks to break the connection, but Zélie resists. Khani calls for Mama Agba, who breaks the connection. Zélie flies out of her hammock to Mâzeli and tries to reignite the connection, but she’s too weak. She takes Mâzeli’s hand and assures him that everyone else is safe, trying hard not to cry. Zélie assures him that he’ll see Oya and his family on the other side. He asks Zélie to not be sad as he dies.
For Zélie, losing Mâzeli, her Second, is like losing a family member as well as a member of her spiritual and cultural community. Being some of the only Reapers bound them together in a way unlike any other, and so seeing him die so brutally for the cause is especially heartbreaking for Zélie. Mâzeli’s final words show that he understands the weight of focusing on grief and wants to try to save Zélie from that pain.
Themes
