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Chapter 21
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
Rin sobs about Altan’s addiction, and Ramsa tries to comfort her. All the Cike knows about his addiction. It makes no sense to Rin: Altan is basically invincible, but in her experience, opium destroys people. Rin deems Altan “disgusting” and “pathetic,” but Ramsa gets angry. He insists Altan survived the genocide on Speer and lost everything. He needs some way to deal with the pain, and Ramsa doesn’t think they have the right to judge Altan.
Rin has very distinct ideas about opium addicts—though this likely reflects her feelings of betrayal more than fact. After all, she happily accepted Tutor Feyrik’s tutoring despite him being a known addict, and Altan has relatively successfully led the Cike while balancing his drug use. This all suggests that the morality of drug use isn’t as cut and dry as Rin would like to think—and Ramsa supports that assessment.
Themes
It’s now been two weeks, and the Cike has only found a thousand survivors. Altan is often missing and is never well when he is around, so Chaghan assigns the Cike guard duty. It’s pointless—there’s nothing to protect. Rin can’t get the images of the mutilated bodies out of her mind, and she can no longer eat meat. She wants to know why the Federation did this, as she understands losing oneself in battle, but not killing thousands of innocent people for sport. Rin realizes there is no rational answer: the answer is that the Federation doesn’t see the Nikara as human, so killing Nikara didn’t matter to them. She also realizes this same logic is what justified bombing Speer.
The implication is that when Altan is missing, he’s smoking. In this context, he is beginning to prioritize his drug use over his job, suggesting that even if he’s maintained a balance thus far, he’s losing control now. It’s notable that at this point, Rin is able to understand in theory how the Federation sees Nikan, and how both countries saw Speer decades ago. Still, for now, Rin retains a tight grip on her own humanity, as evidenced by her unwillingness to eat meat or turn to something like opium for an escape.
Themes
Rin falls asleep keeping watch and jerks awake to the sound of Altan and Chaghan arguing. Altan is talking about the possibility of raising an “army of shamans,” but Chaghan argues that this isn’t okay: the men “in there” are demigods now, not men at all; and they can cause way more destruction than the Federation wrought in Golyn Niis. They discuss their plan to “release the Gatekeeper,” but Altan adds that they need to release Feylen, too. They begin to fight, and Chaghan says this isn’t Speer all over again—and there’s nobody left in Nikan to praise Altan for winning the war. Even the Empress is gone. Chaghan forbids Altan from trying to control “those people in the mountain” and suggests that Altan just wants revenge for Speer—Tearza was the only smart Speerly. Altan tells Chaghan to obey him or leave.
This is the first time Rin and readers have seen Altan and Chaghan truly at odds. It’s implied that whatever Altan is planning, it has something to do with the Chuluu Korikh (the “mountain” Chaghan mentions here). For his part, Chaghan insists that Altan has lost sight of what’s actually important and relevant. Instead, Altan is focused on avenging the massacre on Speer—which, while it’s not a crime to want justice, doesn’t actually have much bearing on the current war, in Chaghan’s opinion. Praising Tearza also suggests that Chaghan agrees with Jiang and others who have expressed concern: the Phoenix is powerful, but it’s also too dangerous to call in good conscience.
Themes
As soon as Altan is gone, Rin runs to find Chaghan, whom she finds preparing to leave with Qara. Rin begs for answers, but Chaghan will only say that Altan is “going to burn down Nikan.” But when Rin asks if Chaghan is going to stand by, Chaghan is speechless. Finally, Chaghan explains that after the First Poppy War, the Federation built a research facility in Snake Province. They’d kidnap Speerlies on which to experiment; Altan was one of those kidnapped. By the time he was rescued, he’d spent half his life in the lab, drugged and tortured. They made Altan watch them dismember other Speerlies. Altan is so powerful because “he hates so deeply and so thoroughly that it constitutes every part of his being,” and the Phoenix is the god of rage as well as fire. Chaghan is afraid.
In describing and justifying his fear of Altan, Chaghan suggests that hatred and a desire for revenge is exceedingly powerful—though it also, Chaghan believes, is going to destroy Altan and all the people Altan ostensibly wants to protect. This mirrors what the Woman said to Rin earlier: that Rin might have good intentions, but calling the Phoenix would hurt more people than it would help. The truth of the abuse Altan suffered alongside other Speerlies is similarly horrifying and is again based on historical context. The Empire of Japan established a facility in Manchuko prior to World War II, where it conducted brutal and often deadly experiments primarily on Chinese captives.
Themes
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Rin finds Altan in the library, high on opium again. She takes his pipe and smokes. Now, she understands why Altan needs opium: the opium makes her feel nothing. She tells Altan she hates “them” to the point that it hurts, and she apologizes for earlier. Altan seems to accept this. Then, he says that Rin will need to choose to come with him to the Chuluu Korikh. Rin knows that Altan is going to unleash gods in human bodies, beings and forces they won’t be able to control. Altan continues that the alternative is to “remain Jiang’s good girl” and stay here. Rin wonders what she has to lose, and she pledges herself to Altan.
Understanding Altan’s childhood trauma helps Rin develop empathy for him, and particularly for his drug use. Opium, she sees now, can help a person reach the gods—or it can just provide a much needed break from one’s pain and suffering. Notably, Rin understands that what Altan plans to do is a bad idea. On some level, she realizes that Jiang—not Altan—has the right idea about how one should engage with the gods (with immense caution). And yet, her loyalty to Altan, and all the horrors she’s seen, has led her to conclude that it can’t possibly get any worse, so why not do it anyway?
Themes
