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Chapter 39
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Girl Who Drank the Moon, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family and Love
Storytelling, Censorship, and Control
Memory, Forgetting, and the Future
Sorrow vs. Hope
Summary
Analysis
Sister Ignatia sweetly tells the madwoman to take off her boots. The madwoman leans against the stone that reads “don’t forget, I mean it” and misses her paper birds. She likes the boots, however, and feels as though they’re perking her up. Both the madwoman and Sister Ignatia gather the bits of magic floating around and Sister Ignatia goes pale when a plume of smoke erupts from a crater. She says that they have to leave or they’ll die in the explosion, and offers to take the madwoman back to the safety of the Tower if she hands over the boots. The madwoman calls Sister Ignatia “Tiger’s Heart” and says that she’s lying. The stone shows her images of Sister Ignatia betraying other magicians and leaving them to die in the smoke.
Because the madwoman is able to use her magic to understand Sister Ignatia’s past, she’s better able to understand that Sister Ignatia isn’t someone she should trust. Now that she knows Sister Ignatia’s other name, she also has more power over her—especially since Sister Ignatia seems very disturbed that the madwoman is able to come up with this name. The early stages of the volcano’s eruption add another layer of urgency to the events in the woods, and suggest that the end of censorship will come when the volcano finally erupts.
Themes
Sister Ignatia asks how the madwoman knows that name, but the madwoman says that everyone knows it. It’s a lie, however; Sister Ignatia doesn’t have a heart. Sister Ignatia paces and says that she started every story in the Protectorate—and her fictional Witch never ate a tiger’s heart. The madwoman says that right now the Sisters are talking about the tiger walking, and that her daughter isn’t supposed to be alive either—and yet, she is. The boots will take her to her daughter. Sister Ignatia conjures knives and throws them at the madwoman. The madwoman races away in the boots as another plume erupts. Sister Ignatia races after her.
By taking responsibility for all the stories in the Protectorate, Sister Ignatia shows that she’s the one who has the most to gain from the Protectorate’s censorship. However, Sister Ignatia has become complacent in her power and isn’t used to having to defend herself like this, which shows that even having power like she’s enjoyed has its limits. She’s not prepared to stand up to foes who know the truth and are hopeful.
Themes
