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
Zélie tries not to think of Baba, but when she does, she remembers seeing the ocean for the first time. It felt magical, as if they could survive after Mama’s murder. Now, however, Zélie fixates on the ritual that killed Baba. Zélie’s brother, Tzain, comforts her as they prepare to bury Baba at sea. Her hand shakes and she spills some of the burial oil as she begins to recite the Yoruba incantation. Zélie feels her ashê for the first time in weeks and stumbles as she relives Baba’s death. This causes her to drop the lit torch in the water. Tzain momentarily loses his temper, but reminds Zélie why Baba died: so they could bring magic back. Zélie thinks her powers are useless when she can’t protect her loved ones.
When Zélie relives the trauma of Baba’s death as she channels her magic, it shows that at this point in her grieving process, using magic at all is a trigger for her and is therefore bound up in grief, fear, and other negative emotions. Tzain’s reminder that Baba died to bring magic back is an attempt to focus Zélie on her duty to protect magic in Orïsha rather than wallow in her grief, but for Zélie, neither her duty nor her love for her family are enough right now.
Themes
Tzain tells Zélie to stop blaming herself and hugs her. Amari races up and hands Tzain a torch from their ship and her own jar of oil. Zélie turns away when she sees the white streak in Amari’s hair, the sign that she—and hundreds of nobles—now have magic too, thanks to Baba’s death. Tzain lights the torch and they recite the sacraments. Zélie remembers burying Mama and thinks of everyone who died, like Lekan, Zu, Salim, Mama Agba, and Inan. Zélie thinks that the battle has just begun.
Zélie’s reaction to seeing the white streak in Amari’s hair makes it clear that to her, it’s not a great thing that Amari has magic. In the previous book in the series, Amari is a princess and a monarch, and so has been on the side of trying to squash magic for years. Thus, this shift to her suddenly having it is understandably uncomfortable.
Themes
