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 thinks of the morning after the Raid. Everything seemed normal except that she couldn’t find Binta. A new, unsmiling handmaiden arrived to scrub and dress Amari, and Amari eventually escaped. She ran through the palace, shrieking for Saran, and discovered him on his throne. Amari has wondered what Saran was feeling then but now, she feels like she knows. Tzain thrashês wildly as the Cancer gas dissipates. Amari ignores the hollowness in her chest and thinks she won the war. She wonders what it cost, especially since she knows that the elders and Tzain won’t forgive this. Amari mounts her cheetanaire. No one follows. She thinks of those who died and reasons that Zélie must’ve died in the explosions. She pictures the bodies of Inan, Nehanda, and Zélie whispers that Orïsha waits for no one.
Amari has no concept of the possibility that she might not have won the war. This unwillingness to consider every angle of what happened and what might happen shows that Amari is too focused on winning and amassing power to consider other options—much like Saran or Nehanda. Even if Amari doesn’t like the idea, this makes it clear, especially to those watching, that she may be fighting for the right side—but she’s not doing so in a way that makes their side seem any better than their opponents.
Themes
