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
Amari calls for Inan and they admire her dreamscape. He shakily asks if she wants to kill him or talk. Tears in her eyes, Amari runs to him and they cry together. They sit down and Inan asks about Zélie. Amari says she’s intent on killing Inan, but she’s happy caring for the other Reapers. She says that the Iyika are training to kill Inan and put Zélie on the throne. Inan asks what they want. Amari says they want power and a say in government, and Inan insists that he wants the same. He offers to send a treaty to the Iyika. Amari flashês on Zélie’s insistence that Inan only does the right thing when it’s easy, but she believes Inan when he says that after peace, they can rule together.
Through this conversation, both Amari and Inan are able to believe that they might be able to combine love for each other with duty to their country. Achieving peace would represent a major shift in Orïsha, as it would require both Inan and the Iyika to sit down and agree to trust each other for the first time ever. When Amari flashês on what Zélie said about Inan, it shows that she is trying to see all sides of this—but at this point, she’s too idealistic and trusting of her brother to understand why Zélie feels this way.
Themes
