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 wheezes and coughs. She thinks that Nâo was probably safe from the blast, but the bombs exploded right above Roën. She calls on the moonstone and dives for Roën’s fading lifeforce. He wears a diving mask. Zélie discovers a heavy stone pinning Roën’s arm. Roën reaches for Zélie and Zélie knows he’s telling her to leave him. Zélie tries to make her shadows move the slab, but they’re too weak. She prays to Oya and conjures shadows that slice Roën’s arm at the shoulder.
Now that Zélie found the will to live and keep on surviving, she’s not going to let Roën die without a fight. This kind of insistence that everyone try hard to live is likely one of the reasons why Roën stuck with Zélie for so long; now, their roles have reversed and Zélie knows she needs to figure out the equivalent of Roën’s speech so she can convince him to live too.
Themes
