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Chapter 68
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 is on the stand. She’s extremely nervous—but Mr. Pingule and the judge are kind and encouraging, so she feels a bit better. Mr. Pingule walks Sephy through explaining that she was in the café while Mother was putting away shopping. Callum approached her and said he wanted to show her something outside, but he didn’t say what. Sephy knows that’s not the whole truth, but she doesn’t know what else to say. Then, Mr. Pingule asks Sephy to describe her relationship to Callum, and tells her that the only way Callum and his family will get hurt today is if she doesn’t tell the truth.
Consider the difference in how Callum felt that the judge and the lawyers treated him with how Sephy sees things. While Callum felt that Mr. Pingule was going out of his way to make him look bad, Sephy sees Mr. Pingule as kind and encouraging. This is presumably because Sephy is a Cross, so she’s presumed to be innocent and helpful while Callum, as a nought, is immediately treated with suspicion.
Themes
Annoyed now, Sephy insists that Callum wanted to show her something outside. She tells Mr. Pingule that she and Callum are only friends, and when he asks if she knows who planted the bomb, Sephy truthfully says she doesn’t.
Sephy seems to resent Mr. Pingule’s implication that she’s bending the truth because she’s in love with Callum and is trying to protect him. This is, of course, exactly what Sephy is doing—but the fact that she honestly doesn’t know who planted the bomb works in her favor.
Themes
