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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
In a letter to Callum, Sephy asks him to not say they’re too young—he’s almost 17, and she’s almost 15. He just has to consider her offer: they should run away together. She wants to be with him, and if they don’t go now they’ll never be together. She knows they’re not ready to be lovers, but they could still go away and help each other. Sephy writes that she has money saved and they can both work. Mother has agreed to let Sephy go to Chivers, and she’s leaving at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. She’ll wait for Callum until the moment she gets in the car.
Sephy might genuinely want to run away with Callum. But given the way that Callum has described their world at large (not just their country), it seems unlikely that Callum and Sephy would find anything better than what they already have. So Sephy’s offer still represents her youthful idealism. She hasn’t internalized Callum’s insistence a year ago that no matter where they go, they’ll still experience racism.
Themes
Just as Sephy finishes writing, Sarah walks into the kitchen. Sephy asks if Sarah would deliver the letter to Callum. Sarah insists it could put her job in danger and asks if Sephy is pregnant. Sephy laughs. Sighing, Sarah says she’ll do it as long as Sephy doesn’t do anything hasty. Sephy hands over the letter and skips away. This isn’t hasty—she’s been thinking about this for her whole life. Callum is going to rescue her and they’re going to escape. It’ll be amazing.
Sephy approaches Sarah as though Sarah is an equal, but recall that Mother has not hesitated to fire any nought staff who are willing to go against her and help Sephy. But Sephy is too caught up in her excitement about running away with Callum to think about this. She’s still young, naïve, and unaware of her own privilege.
Themes
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