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Chapter Seventy-Two
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
Zélie tows Roën’s body to the surface and onto land. Roën struggles to hum a song his mother used to sing to him as Zélie uses Roën’s belt as a tourniquet. She yells at him to keep talking and picks up the tune when he falters. Zélie can see his lifeforce slipping away. He gasps that his pet name for Zélie, zïtsōl, means “home.” Roën dies. Zélie sobs as her tattoos begin to shine. In Roën’s heart, she sees a flicker of gold. She thinks back to her ìsípayá and wonders if the purple and gold Oya showed her was herself and Roën. Zélie prays to Oya and her tattoos glow violet as she recites the Yoruba incantation. She can hear Roën’s heart connected to her own.
Even though connecting via the moonstone will have major, possibly deadly consequences, in this situation, it seems like the only thing Zélie can do to save the person she loves most right now—and so she feels she has no choice but to take it. Especially since it seems like Oya guided her to making this choice, Zélie can feel more assured that she’s doing the right thing, at least according to the gods. Choosing to have faith in Oya also reconnects Zélie spiritually with her faith.
Themes
