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
Matthias hurries to the deck, vomits, and is glad Nina isn’t here to see him be this weak. He keeps thinking of her saying that accusing him of being a slaver and getting him thrown in Hellgate was a mistake—but Grisha always lie. Kaz beckons Matthias over and hands out tiny discs to Jesper, Wylan, and Matthias. When they bite them, the discs will give them 10 minutes’ worth of air in case something happens and they go overboard. Then, Kaz forces Matthias to label Wylan’s drawing of the Ice Court, and Matthias insists the plan—which is to go “in through the prison, out through the embassy”—won’t work because there’s no way out of the prison. Kaz says there’s always a way out: Inej will climb up the incinerator shaft. Nina appears and insists that Inej has to survive her current ordeal first.
Just as Kaz turns to violence to deal with his difficult emotions, Matthias seems to return to the hateful rhetoric the drüskelle taught him. So here, rather than accepting that Nina made a mistake, he tells himself that Grisha are all liars. As the group discusses the plan, it becomes clearer how much Kaz relies on Inej. The implication is that Inej’s climb up the incinerator shaft seems close to impossible, and yet the whole operation depends on her being able to do it. And Inej seems to have no choice in the matter, suggesting how lost and out of control she feels working for Kaz.
Themes
Jesper insists their bigger problem is Pekka Rollins, and Wylan explains to Matthias that Rollins is the wealthiest boss in Ketterdam. He’s certain that Rollins has had a head start on infiltrating the Ice Court. When Kaz insists that Rollins is just like any other “Barrel boss,” Matthias knows there’s more to the story—Kaz clearly hates Rollins. The group discusses entering Fjerda from various points, but Kaz insists they’ll stick to the original plan and enter in the north.
In addition to outsmarting the Fjerdans, the Dregs must also contend with Pekka Rollins and dangerous but normal Barrel grudges. As an outsider, Matthias can see that Kaz must hate Rollins for other reasons, even as Kaz insists that Rollins is just a “Barrel boss.” This also points to Kaz’s focus on besting Rollins above all else.
Themes
