Cinder Themes

Cinder is a futuristic retelling of the classic folktale “Cinderella.” Like the original, Cinder is a tale of good versus evil, as the teenage protagonist, Cinder, tries to escape the influence of her wicked stepmother, Adri.  She also attempts to find a cure for letumosis (a deadly disease plaguing the Eastern Commonwealth, where Cinder lives) and tries to prevent Queen Levana (the ruler of Luna, the society on the moon) from marrying…

While Cinder portrays bravery and self-sacrifice as essential forces of good, greed and a thirst for power become the cornerstones of evil for the book’s antagonists. The Lunar Queen Levana, Levana’s advisor Sybil Mira, and Cinder’s stepmother Adri are all in positions of power and are supposed to care for others—their citizens or their family, respectively. But instead of caring for others, they instead focus on their own desires and needs, to the…

The societies in Cinder are filled with secrecy and manipulation, the most obvious example being the Lunar people, who are able to telepathically manipulate the thoughts and actions of those around them using their “gift.” In addition, people like Cinder or Dr. Erland often try to conceal parts of their identity or the identity of others in order to paint themselves in a better light or to try and protect others. Yet in…

Cinder shares many major plot points with its predecessor “Cinderella”—particularly Charles Perrault’s Cendrillon, the 17th-century version of the folktale. Both center on a poor female protagonist with a wicked stepmother and stepsisters who goes to a ball and falls in love with a prince. However, there are crucial differences between the two stories: primarily, there is no figure comparable to the fairy godmother in the original tale, who makes Cinderella’s wishes come true by…