Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Children of Virtue and Vengeance, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power and Systems of Oppression
Cycles of Violence
Tradition and History
Love vs. Duty
Summary
Analysis
Chimes startle Zélie awake and call her to training before dawn. Zélie stays in bed. She doesn’t feel fit to lead the Reapers after putting Mâzeli in danger at Chândomblé. Mama Agba knocks and enters. She wears the ceremonial clothing of past clan elders and Zélie gets up to bow to her. Mama Agba pulls out a beautiful metal collar. Zélie says she doesn’t feel like she deserves to wear it, but Mama Agba says that elders can make mistakes. Zélie allows Mama Agba to fasten the collar and thinks that this feels like the day Mama Agba gave her the staff. Mama Agba says that if Zélie weren’t meant to be an elder, Oya would’ve rejected her.
Mama Agba makes the case here that being a leader doesn’t mean that a person needs to be entirely flawless; mistakes are normal for everyone. What Zélie does need to do is consistently work toward being better and serving her Reapers to the best of her abilities, while also trusting in Oya and the maji traditions to guide her as she does this. Sharing wisdom like this is one of the most meaningful ways that Mama Agba can help the Iyika.
Themes
Zélie thinks about the ribbons of light she saw in her ìsípayá. She thinks that she initially thought her ìsípayá showed cênters, but she realizes that Amari’s magic is only blue and Nehanda’s is only green. She asks Mama Agba if it’s possible to combine different types of magic. Mama Agba says that it’s only happened once before: the Grounder and Cancer died, but created majacite. It’s possible, but dangerous and unpredictable. From the balcony, Zélie asks what Mama Agba’s ìsípayá was like. Mama Agba says that Sky Mother welcomed her as she kneeled on a mountaintop.
Majacite’s origins make it clear that deviating from accepted norms of behavior and of channeling magic can have disastrous consequences—but given what Zélie saw in her ìsípayá, it’s possible that Oya tried to show her that in order to win this war, Zélie will need to think outside the box and start to write the history and customs of this new age.
Themes
Zélie walks to her Reapers, passing the other clans training on the way. The other elders are skilled and Zélie hopes to be as good as they are. Mâzeli, Bimpe, and Màri conjure animations and greet Zélie when she arrives. Zélie realizes that they can practice incantations and celebrate their powers. She demonstrates by bringing a shadow to life. Màri asks if it’s true that Zélie’s shadows can turn armies to ash, but Zélie explains she could only do that because she was using Baba’s lifeforce on sacred grounds at a sacred time. She knows she needs to demonstrate something, however, and remembers an incantation Mama used once. Zélie leaps off a cliff over the baths and then conjures a shadow to break her fall. She calls Mâzeli to go next.
What Màri and Zélie are referring to here is the extremely powerful magic Zélie was able to use during the ceremony to bring back magic in the last novel. Màri’s interest suggests that Zélie’s abilities are already beginning to rewrite what maji can do with their powers. Further, Zélie’s realization that they can and should celebrate their powers by connecting to their past drives home the importance of honoring old traditions and customs. By doing both, Zélie and the Iyika can try to save their culture.
Themes
