Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Children of Blood and Bone, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Prejudice and Inequality
Duty to Family vs. Self
Faith and Tradition
Cycles of Violence
Summary
Analysis
Late at night, Inan sneaks into Zélie’s cell. Zélie is bloodied and almost lifeless, in chains. Inan wonders how Saran can think the maji are animals when he behaves this way himself. Inan unlocks her restraints and carries her to the hall. Though they hear guards, Inan presses on, knowing he must save her. Suddenly, there is shouting and heat as an explosion bursts through the wall.
Saran’s prejudice is built on a foundation of dehumanizing the divîners, painting them as less than human. But Inan believes now that acts of senseless violence are what make someone less than human, not their identity as a divîner. Inan’s love for Zélie has helped him to see the many flaws in his father’s beliefs, and question the blind loyalty he had for his father in the past.
Themes
