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Chapter 18
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Poppy War, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Dehumanization and the Horrors of War
Identity, Cultural Trauma, and Coming of Age
The Purpose of Education
Addiction, Drugs, and Control
History
Summary
Analysis
From their posts staking out a barricade, Rin tells Nezha about Chaghan. The Cike is working with the Seventh Division to try to cut off the Federation’s access to the docks. It’s been bloody so far, but slow going—and Rin is bored. Nezha warns Rin to be careful around Chaghan—apparently he can read the future, and even the Warlords are afraid of him—as they push forward. Then, they see a green fog coming toward them. When it reaches soldiers, the soldiers stop fighting and start screaming. The Militia turns and runs from the gas. Rin races for the trees as an arrow hits her cheek. Behind her, Nezha falls, and Rin rushes into the green fog to rescue him. But Altan grabs Rin and tells her that Nezha isn’t one of “our men”; he’s with the Seventh. Altan tells another soldier to carry Rin to safety.
Once again, the Federation proves itself willing to resort to cruel methods to win, such as chemical warfare in this case. The Militia isn’t prepared to handle this particular attack because of how its officers have been trained—that training doesn’t acknowledge that the real world doesn’t usually play by the book. Rin tries to rescue Nezha because she sees him as a fellow human being (and her friend) and as deserving of life. Altan, however, proposes an us- versus-them dichotomy, where the only people that matter to him (and, he implies, that should matter to Rin) are fellow Cike. This also deepens divisions within the Nikara military.
Themes
In addition to killing a bunch of people, the fog creates widespread terror. Civilians flee the city. In a commanders’ meeting, Altan tells Jun to have his men do crowd control—and it comes out that Altan stole a Federation gas mask and took a Federation soldier hostage. Hearing this, Rin speaks up incredulously: how could Altan let Militia soldiers die while saving a Federation soldier? The meeting ends, and Altan has Rin stay behind after the others have left to reprimand her. As they argue about what he did and her inappropriate behavior speaking up, Altan hits her and tells her that he’s her commander, not her brother or her friend. Some voice in Rin’s head says that Altan is out of line, and, reaching into a “spiteful and dark and horrible” part of herself, she calls the Phoenix. The Phoenix sighs that its “children” are absurd.
Recall that after the saltpeter incident, it was made very clear that Khurdalain’s civilians don’t have a safe place to go. Their desperation—and the Militia’s failures—thus become really clear here. Nikan is losing the war. Alongside this depressing fact, Rin is enraged that Altan was busy taking hostages instead of saving Nikara soldiers. She’s fully willing to acknowledge Nezha’s humanity, and she’s also willing to dehumanize the Federation soldiers if it means saving her own. She takes such offense to Altan’s position that she’s finally able to call the Phoenix, highlighting that for all the terrible things Rin has done thus far, she still has a firm grip on her own humanity.
Themes
Altan is stunned. He and Rin fight with flames for a minute, but Rin can’t hold her ground: Altan’s fire seems to draw on “an unending hate,” and she’s shocked that one person can be so hateful. Whatever happened to Altan? But Altan backs down as soon as Rin’s flames cool—and he looks happy, since now he knows “what it takes.” Rin insults Altan and leaves.
Altan leans into his earlier insistence that he’s Rin’s commander, not a friend. It’s his job, he suggests, to figure out how to get the most out of her—and he knows now that will entail deeply offending her. This passage points again to past trauma that Altan has experienced, building toward a reveal of what exactly transpired.
Themes
