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
The next morning, Amari struggles to write her speech and get dressed. Nothing seems right and she hears Nehanda’s voice in her head telling her the clothes aren’t good enough. As she practices her speech in the mirror, Amari catches sight of her new scar on her shoulder. Suddenly, her ashê flashês. She cries for help as her palms split and blood courses down her chest. Tzain’s shout brings Amari back. She’s not bleeding, but her palms are covered in blisters—and she doesn’t tell Tzain that this is the fourth time this has happened in a week. Amari isn’t sure how she feels about being a tîtán and a Connector, and she refuses to ask Zélie for help. Tzain tells Amari to wear her armor. It’s time for her to give the terrifying snow leopanaire seal new meaning.
Again, Amari’s magical attack—which seems clearly triggered by the trauma she suffered getting the scar, which came from Saran—shows that Amari is suffering from unresolved trauma, just like Zélie is. Even though she’s a tîtán and grew up a princess, Orïsha hasn’t been kind to her. This begins to make the case that Orïsha isn’t set up to serve anyone, no matter how high up in society they might be. The snow leopanaire was Saran’s sigil, and Tzain’s suggestion that they essentially rewrite its meaning is a sign of hope that Orïsha can begin to right some of its past wrongs.
Themes
