Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Noughts and Crosses, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism, Division, and Tragedy
Awareness and Privilege
Love, Lust, Power, and Violence
Friendship
Youth, Innocence, and Growing Up
Family
Summary
Analysis
At the end of the school day, Callum is trying to look on the bright side—only a few Crosses bullied him—when Shania rushes up and asks if he’s heard about Sephy. Shania is thrilled—being beaten up serves Sephy right—but Callum’s heart stops. Shania insists Sephy was just trying to make herself look good and says that Sephy’s mother came to pick her up. Callum races away from Shania and runs all the way to the Hadleys’ house.
Despite his conflicted feelings about Sephy, Callum doesn’t want her to get hurt. Shania shows she didn’t interpret Sephy’s attempt to sit with the noughts at lunch as a genuine attempt to connect. This in turn shows another reason why Sephy’s attempt didn’t work: at this point, the noughts see no reason to believe that Crosses genuinely want to get to know them, given how often Crosses dehumanize noughts.
Themes
Sarah answers the door when Callum rings the bell and says the doctor doesn’t want anyone disturbing Sephy. Sephy, Sarah says, is badly bruised and will be home all week. Just then, Mrs. Hadley appears inside, and Callum pushes back when Sarah tries to shut the door on him. Callum asks Mrs. Hadley if he could see Sephy, but she says he’s done enough—he must be proud for setting Sephy up to get beaten up. Apparently he turned his back on Sephy. Callum is shocked. Nobody understands. Callum says he wouldn’t let Sephy sit with him because he didn’t want this to happen. As Mrs. Hadley walks away, Callum shouts that Mrs. Hadley would hate him even if he’d welcomed Sephy. She responds by telling Sarah to never let Callum in.
Mrs. Hadley blames Callum for Sephy getting beaten up. Sephy is Mrs. Hadley’s daughter, and she no doubt wants to protect her—but Mrs. Hadley is also underestimating the vitriol and racism that both Sephy and Callum are encountering at school. Given how racist Sephy’s classmates have been, it doesn’t seem like it would’ve made a difference had Callum accepted Sephy with open arms—it may have even made things worse for Sephy. But because Callum is a nought, Mrs. Hadley doesn’t feel like she has to listen to him or seek his point of view.
Themes
