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Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Noughts and Crosses, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism, Division, and Tragedy
Awareness and Privilege
Love, Lust, Power, and Violence
Friendship
Youth, Innocence, and Growing Up
Family
Summary
Analysis
Sephy lies in bed and rubs her aching abdomen. Callum comes into the room, surprising her, but she refuses to tell him what’s wrong. He sits next to her on the bed and takes over rubbing her belly, insisting that he does care that she’s in pain. Sephy asks him to let her go if he cares, but he says he can’t. Then, Callum says he loves Sephy. He told her once before, when she was asleep, but now he’s not afraid for her to hear it. Sephy’s heart pounds. This can’t be true, and she points out that Callum said love between noughts and Crosses can’t exist.
Once again, a frightening moment (because of the power dynamic that exists currently between Sephy and Callum) becomes strangely tender when Callum takes over rubbing Sephy’s stomach. The fact that Callum is only now willing to vocalize that he loves Sephy is interesting. He may believe that all is lost and Sephy is going to die, so it’s better to tell Sephy the truth. Or, he may be planning to save her. For now, it’s impossible to tell.
Themes
Callum says it does. At least, he cared when he saw Sephy drive away for Chivers. He explains that he got the letter too late to catch her. At this, Sephy starts to cry. Callum wanted to be with her, and suddenly, his hand on her belly feels like it’s burning her. Sephy is unable to answer when Callum asks if she hates him. She starts to say something about another place or time, but Callum says he can only think of now and kisses Sephy. Sephy kisses him back. This must be a dream.
Learning that Callum came after her is infuriating for Sephy. As a self-protective measure, she’s spent years convincing herself that Callum doesn’t love her, but now, she knows the truth. And Sephy and Callum’s love for each other is fast becoming something that neither of them can ignore. Again, their love is tied up with pain, as Sephy feels like Callum’s hands are burning.
Themes
Callum moves his hands up Sephy’s body and doesn’t move them when she tries to push him away. She tries to speak, but Callum shushes her and says he loves her and would never hurt her. Sephy tries to push him away again, but then pulls Callum close. It feels like they’ve both caught fire as Callum and Sephy undress and have sex.
It's another sign of how intertwined violence is with romance that Callum outright ignores Sephy’s physical signals that she doesn’t want to go any further. But ultimately, Sephy decides that her desire to have sex with Callum outweighs any fear of him.
Themes
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When they’re done, Sephy sits up, sobbing. She can’t stop, and she wonders if she looks as “miserably unhappy” as Callum does. They both frantically dress, but Sephy struggles to get her shoes on the right feet. Callum tries to pull Sephy into an embrace, but she pulls away and cries harder. Suddenly, the door bursts open and Jude and Morgan rush in. Sephy still can’t stop crying.
Sephy never explains why she’s “miserably unhappy,” but pushing Callum away when he tries to comfort her suggests she might regret having sex with him. And things take a turn for the worse when Jude and Morgan catch Sephy and Callum in this state. They may not understand that Sephy and Callum do love each other, even though Sephy is crying.
Themes
Get the entire Noughts and Crosses LitChart as a printable PDF.
