Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Six of Crows, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Greed
Friendship and Difference
Trauma, the Past, and Moving Forward
Identity, Values, and Growing Up
Summary
Analysis
Jesper focuses best when people are shooting at him, so now, even though things are going very badly, he feels purposeful and prepared—until he sees Wylan curled in a ball on the dock. Rolling his eyes, Jesper gives Wylan his rifle and tells him to shoot. Kaz appears and tells Jesper and Wylan to head to the next dock to board the actual Ferolind; this one was a decoy. Kaz hurries off, and Jesper leads Wylan into the maze of crates. They watch Nina cut Matthias’s wrist bonds and give him a pistol, and to Jesper’s surprise, Matthias shoots at the enemy instead of Nina. Maybe this is part of Kaz’s plan, but Jesper can never be sure.
In terrifying times, Jesper rises to the occasion. Wylan, however, does not, calling into question what he brings to the table aside from his familial connections to Van Eck and his drawing skills. At this point, he's a nuisance more than a help. Nina clearly trusts Matthias, despite his violent behavior toward her earlier. This suggests that their relationship may have room to improve, even if Matthias has insisted that he hates and wants to kill her.
Themes
Jesper and Wylan are the first to the real Ferolind, where Rotty and another sailor is already on board. Telling Wylan and Rotty to not let their enemies onto the schooner, Jesper begins climbing for the crow’s nest. He takes a shot in the thigh, but he continues to climb until he’s high enough to see and shoot. He thinks of the four million kruge this job will get him—enough to pay his debts and support him for a while. Jesper notices Nina, Matthias, and Kaz, and then Wylan shouts for Jesper to close his eyes. Something explodes, blinding all the Dregs’ enemies, who didn’t have their eyes closed. Jesper is impressed.
Like Kaz, Jesper is motivated by greed and money. But unlike Kaz, Jesper has gambling debts to pay; this money is his ticket to a debt-free life. As Wylan tosses the explosive onto the dock and blinds the Dregs’ enemies, he demonstrates that he does, in fact, have more to offer than being a great hostage. He’s learning to think on his feet and look out for his team, something that even Jesper—who mocks Wylan incessantly—can appreciate.
Themes
