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
Inan heads for the war room, thrilled at Lagos’s positive transformation. He sees Nehanda sneakily moving toward the cellars and follows her. Inan remembers sparring with Amari here under Saran’s rule and wonders where Amari is. He doesn’t believe she’s with the Iyika. Around the corner, Inan watches Nehanda give money to two masked men, one of whom has sandy skin and looks familiar. The mercenary notices Inan and refuses to bow to him, and then he and his companion leave. Nehanda reveals that the mercenaries have worked with Amari, but she won’t share anything else.
The sandy skin is a clue that this mercenary is Roën, which makes it very clear that of all the people Zélie shouldn’t trust right now, Roën is at the top of the list. However, it’s also worth keeping in mind that Roën is clearly in love with Zélie and she returns his feelings, which means that it’s possible that Roën will get to the point where caring for Zélie is more important than doing his job and getting money.
Themes
In the war room, Inan gives a rundown of their successes and Jokôye says that they’re getting closer to discovering the Iyika’s hideout. They have discovered that some are heading south, presumably to Lagos. Ojore shows wanted posters of Amari and Zélie as Inan realizes that they’re not heading for Lagos: they’re headed for Chândomblé. If the army leaves tonight, they could catch the maji. Ojore asks if Inan can face Amari. Inan says that he won’t hurt Amari, but that he will arrest her.
Even though Inan is using his intelligence to hurt people he loves, the fact that he knows of Chândomblé and why it’s important to the maji supports the idea that it’s essential to treat everyone as the human beings they are, with a culture and sacred spaces all their own—if Inan hadn’t briefly flirted with joining Zélie in the last novel, he wouldn’t have this information.
Themes
