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
Sephy spends her evenings watching the news for any coverage of Ryan’s trial. She still doesn’t know how to help him. On the night that the news shows Callum’s house burning to the ground, Sephy goes to her room and sobs. Fortunately Callum’s family is with relatives, but she desperately wants to help. Sephy wonders how Meggie managed to hire Kelani Adams. Sephy knows of Kelani, and she believes it when the newscasters say that Kelani is making Ryan’s trial as fair as possible. Sephy is certain Ryan will be found innocent. That’s justice.
Here, Sephy reveals that she didn’t hire Kelani Adams, but the novel leaves the identity of the benefactor a mystery. As she watches the trial unfold, Sephy feels powerless and alone. However, the fact that Dad and Callum are still experiencing racism and prejudice in the courtroom—and the fact that they still live in a racist society—suggests that Sephy is naïve to think Dad will go free.
Themes
