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Chapter Five
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
Amari marches to the platform at the center of the dome, taking in the dome’s decorations. She feels as though Saran unwittingly prepared her for this and hears him say, “Strike, Amari,” in her head. On the platform, Amari announces her name and many people bow. She continues her speech and tells the story of Binta, her divîner handmaid whom Saran killed for no reason. Amari says that that kind of violence must end as cheers erupt. However, Amari catches sight of an Iyika girl snarling. Amari takes off her helmet, revealing her white streak. She shouts that the gods want magic to help people thrive, not to divide people. She lists how different maji and tîtáns can help and promises that under her, everyone will have what they need. People shout, “long live the Queen” in Yoruba. Queen Nehanda enters and hatefully shouts, “Lies!”
Feeling as though Saran prepared her for this and hearing his voice in her head does mean that Saran may have had more of an influence in Amari’s development than she’d like to think—and readers familiar with the first book will remember that Saran was impossibly cruel and calculating. Though Amari removes her helmet to show solidarity with the maji and this angry Iyika girl, she doesn’t understand that for some—like the Iyika girl—Amari’s magical abilities means that she now has a weapon that, combined with her royal blood, makes her even more powerful than ever.
Themes
