Children of Virtue and Vengeance

Children of Virtue and Vengeance

by

Tomi Adeyemi

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Children of Virtue and Vengeance makes teaching easy.

Children of Virtue and Vengeance: Chapter Twenty-One Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Inan, Ojore, and Nehanda wait outside the throne room. Ojore cracks jokes, but Nehanda glares and reminds Inan that he must impress the advisors. Tîtán soldiers let her in. Ojore digs into his pocket and pulls out the bronze coin that Zélie gave Inan. He gives it to Inan and explains that he has no idea why Inan would have a coin, so it must be important. Inan thanks Ojore and the doors open. The throne room is full. In front of the throne, General Jokôye and the other four surviving members of the council bow to Inan. Where there were once 30 nobles in front, there are now 11. Inan notices that Jokôye is a tîtán.
Getting Zélie’s coin back means that Inan will have a physical object to remind him of Zélie and the love they shared as he moves into a leadership role as king—a role that’s fundamentally opposed to what Zélie wants to do. This suggests that Inan will be in a place where, at least emotionally or intellectually, he understands the human toll on the other side, as it is associated with Zélie.
Themes
Love vs. Duty Theme Icon
Inan vows to win everyone’s approval as he sits on the throne. He announces that he has a plan to liberate Lagos, beat the Iyika, and bring peace to Orïsha. He asks everyone to present their problems. A young woman with children steps up and says that there’s no food. Nehanda whispers to Inan that the market is gone and with the roads closed, there’s nothing for many to eat. Others raise their hands to show that they, too, are hungry. Inan turns to the tax collector, Captain Kunle, and commands him to create rations for every civilian from the palace stores. Inan insists that they’ll be fine once the roads reopen and orders them to set up a distribution center in the marketplace.
Inan’s desire for everyone to like him speaks to his nature as a people-pleaser, and his announcement of a plan to fix pretty much everything reflects the same. Being a people-pleaser, however, means that Inan may be far more interested in pleasing others than doing the right thing or pleasing himself, especially if those others are powerful or people he loves. He clearly wants to be benevolent though, which shows he’s committed to being better than Saran.
Themes
Power and Systems of Oppression Theme Icon
Love vs. Duty Theme Icon
Many people present their problems and with the draw of rations, they agree to collect the dead and nobles agree to take in orphans. General Jokôye steps up and declares that Inan’s benevolence is admirable, but the Iyika will soon retaliate. None of the scouts sent into the forest return, and Jokôye insists that they can’t destroy the protective city walls to attack the Iyika without knowing exactly where the group is. Nehanda insists they can discuss this in private, but Inan sweats and insists he’ll come up with a plan.
General Jokôye reads as the voice of reason for her side: they must preserve manpower and rations for their fighters, and focus on winning the war rather than lifting up strategically useless civilians by feeding them. She represents loyalty to duty rather than love, and so finds herself in opposition to Inan as he tries to do both and leans more toward love.
Themes
Love vs. Duty Theme Icon
Inan hears a crash in the entryway and people duck for cover. Inan makes his way out and discovers Ojore holding an Iyika girl. There are stale bread loaves around her. General Jokôye insists that child maji are as dangerous as adults, but Inan kneels next to the girl and asks her name. The girl, Raifa, says she wants a maji sitting on the throne. Inan gathers her loaves, gives them to her, and asks her to tell the Iyika that any maji who volunteer to help with reconstruction will receive double rations. He asks Ojore to take Raifa to the forest safely. Jokôye roars in anger, but Inan insists that the maji are fighting because they’ve been abused—with his kindness, they can create lasting peace. No one seems convinced, but Inan says that any maji who oppose him will die.
Jokôye and her allies likely see Inan as weak and misguided, as they fully believe that the maji are subhuman and need to be eradicated because of the danger they pose to society. Inan is right, however, that the maji are fighting so hard and so violently because of years of abuse. Like Amari, Inan recognizes that the situation they’re in now has been brewing for a long time and is the consequence of years of subjugation and oppression. Now that he’s king, Inan believes that he can combine love and duty by making peace like this.
Themes
Power and Systems of Oppression Theme Icon
Cycles of Violence Theme Icon
Love vs. Duty Theme Icon
Get the entire Children of Virtue and Vengeance LitChart as a printable PDF.
Children of Virtue and Vengeance PDF