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Xan
The novel’s antagonist. 500 years ago, this character was known as the Sorrow Eater; Sister Ignatia is a name that she gave herself after there was a volcanic eruption. The Sorrow Eater became an evil individual in her youth, when she experienced the loss of a loved one and instead of dealing with the pain, she locked it away. In doing so, she locked away her heart and her emotions. At the same time she began to crave sorrow as a source of sustenance, hence being known as the Sorrow Eater. A crafty witch, she was the one who enmagicked young Xan and helped develop the plans to evacuate the castle and save the people who lived in the woods from the volcano—but instead of saving the magicians, she let them burn and then corralled the people in the Protectorate, which she designed to be a sort of sorrow factory. At that point, she took on the name Sister Ignatia and began to promote the story of the Witch in the woods who demands a sacrifice of an infant every year. Sister Ignatia understands that this kind of constant loss is an excellent way to keep everyone in a haze of grief, which in addition to feeding her, keeps them from questioning whether the Witch is real or not. Despite the success with which the Protectorate functions for 500 years under her rule, Sister Ignatia also grows complacent during this time. She has no idea that Xan has been rescuing the abandoned babies the entire time, and when Antain and Ethyne finally begin to question things, necessitating Sister Ignatia’s journey into the woods, Sister Ignatia realizes that she didn’t put precautions in place for what she’d do if her sources of sorrow disappeared. Sister Ignatia ultimately dies after Luna cracks her heart open, exposing her to her suppressed emotions for the first time in centuries.
Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater Quotes in The Girl Who Drank the Moon
The The Girl Who Drank the Moon quotes below are all either spoken by Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater or refer to Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 8 Quotes
But he didn’t kill the Witch. The Witch killed him instead.
This is why it doesn’t pay to be brave. Bravery makes nothing, protects nothing, results in nothing. It only makes you dead. And this is why we don’t stand up to the Witch. Because even a powerful old wizard was no match for her.
Related Characters:
The Parent (speaker), Zosimos, Fyrian’s Mother, Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater
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The Witch
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Chapter 8. In Which a Story Contains a Hint of Truth59
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The parent tells the story of the volcano’s eruption 500 years ago, which Zosimos and Fyrian’s mother stopped by diving into the volcano. However, in this retelling, the Witch kills Zosimos. It’s important to keep in mind that all the stories that the Parent tells were started by Sister Ignatia, which means that they all have the purpose of subduing and controlling the population. With this background, it’s easy to see why Sister Ignatia would’ve cast Zosimos as a failed hero who teaches people to not be brave—it ensures that nobody will ever wonder if there’s anything to gain by standing up to her or the Witch. Again, this demonstrates how censorship and storytelling can create a population that’s easy to manipulate, and specifically, one that’s easy to keep from ever thinking critically about the world around them. Because of this story, the unthinking population in the Protectorate will be far less likely to try to better themselves, since according to the stories of how the Protectorate came into being, there’s no point in even trying.
Chapter 13 Quotes
Most were sent packing at the age of twelve—right when they had begun to get comfortable. Once they became aware of how much learning there was to be had in the libraries of the Tower and they became hungry for it, they were sent away.
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Chapter 22 Quotes
They say she even stole it from the moon. And then she cast a spell over all of us—a great cloud of sorrow, covering the world.
Well, of course it covers the world. That’s why the world is drab and gray. That’s why hope is only for the smallest of children. Best you learn that now.
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Chapter 28 Quotes
While it was annoying to have to go hungry in one’s own home, there was always sorrow aplenty throughout the Protectorate, hanging over the town like a cloud.
Or normally there was. But this blasted hope stirred up by Antain was spreading through the town, disrupting the sorrow. Sister Ignatia felt her stomach rumble.
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Chapter 29 Quotes
But the volcano never really went out. The wizard stopped it up, but it went underground. And it leaks its fury into the water pools and the mud vats and the noxious vents. It poisons the Bog. It contaminates the water. It is the reason why our children go hungry and our grandmothers wither and our crops are so often doomed to fail. It is the reason we cannot ever leave this place and there is no use trying.
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Chapter 38 Quotes
A story can tell the truth, she knew, but a story can also lie. Stories can bend and twist and obfuscate. Controlling stories is power indeed. And who would benefit most from such a power? And over time, Ethyne’s eye drifted less and less toward the forest, and more toward the Tower casting its shadow over the Protectorate.
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Chapter 40 Quotes
“How do you know that name?” Sister Ignatia whispered.
“Everyone knows that name,” the madwoman said. “It was in a story. About how the Witch ate a tiger’s heart. They all whisper it. It’s wrong, of course. You don’t have a tiger’s heart. You have no heart at all.”
“There is no such story,” Sister Ignatia said. [...] “I started the stories in the Protectorate. I did. They all came from me. There is no story that I did not tell first.”
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Chapter 45 Quotes
How many feelings can one heart hold? She looked at her grandmother. At her mother. At the man protecting his family. Infinite, Luna thought. The way the universe is infinite. It is light and dark and endless motion; it is space and time, and space within space, and time within time. And she knew: there is no limit to what the heart can carry.
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Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater Character Timeline in The Girl Who Drank the Moon
The timeline below shows where the character Sister Ignatia/The Sorrow Eater appears in The Girl Who Drank the Moon. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 13. In Which Antain Pays a Visit
...he was there. Rook, Antain’s little brother, answers the Tower door and shows Antain to Sister Ignatia ’s office. Sister Ignatia is a formidable woman, but she liked Antain.
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Sister Ignatia greets Antain warmly, invites him to sit on a chair covered in spiky vines, and...
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Rook stumbles in, spills the tea and cookies, and rushes away. When Sister Ignatia asks, Antain insists that he’s just here to visit. With a smile, Sister Ignatia says...
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Sister Ignatia leads Antain to the prison cells and Antain hopefully peeks into rooms looking for Ethyne....
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Chapter 15. In Which Antain Tells a Lie
...heart constrict. As he wanders, he finds himself in the shadow of the Tower again. Sister Ignatia greets him and he notices a bit of a growl in her voice. This is...
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Antain lies and tells Sister Ignatia that he can’t build her desk for another year or so. Sister Ignatia says that...
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Ethyne thanks Sister Ignatia graciously, but Sister Ignatia is snappy and rude. Sister Ignatia looks horribly hungry. She confirms...
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Chapter 16. In Which There Is Ever So Much Paper
...paper bird and Antain both feel it, and the madwoman’s hope seems to radiate outward. Sister Ignatia cries out in pain.
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Chapter 18. In Which a Witch Is Discovered
...She knows where the Witch lives and where she takes the sacrificed children. Every morning, Sister Ignatia asks how much sorrow the madwoman experiences. While the madwoman’s sorrow fed Sister Ignatia for...
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Chapter 26. In Which a Madwoman Learns a Skill and Puts It to Use
...escape as a bird. The madwoman becomes a beetle and accompanies the servant boy to Sister Ignatia . She hides under Sister Ignatia’s desk and stares at the visitor, Gherland. The madwoman...
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The madwoman notices tears in Sister Ignatia ’s eyes, and that Sister Ignatia looks unwell. Sister Ignatia says that if Antain returns...
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Chapter 27. In Which Luna Learns More than She Wished
...and so he bound his destiny to the child’s. He warned the others about the Sorrow Eater , who grew more powerful every day. The girl grew and didn’t notice that Zosimos...
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Chapter 28. In Which Several People Go into the Woods
...Sisters discover the madwoman’s escape an hour after dawn. They keep it a secret and Sister Ignatia tries and fails to cancel a meeting with Gherland that day. She offers him tea...
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Chapter 33. In Which the Witch Encounters an Old Acquaintance
Sister Ignatia feels increasingly weaker. She ate all the sorrow she could from the Protectorate and congratulated...
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Chapter 34. In Which Luna Meets a Woman in the Wood
...bird in a man’s hand, not Xan. The crow caws, “tiger,” but a woman ( Sister Ignatia ) steps out of the trees. Luna doesn’t know why she’s so afraid.
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...Gherland announces that the Day of Sacrifice is coming, and Ethyne asks why he’s here— Sister Ignatia usually terrorizes the parents of the sacrificial children. Ethyne is curious to know why Sister...
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Peevishly, Gherland says that Sister Ignatia is out on her own business. Ethyne approaches the soldiers, who blush as she approaches....
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As Sister Ignatia and Luna look at each other, the paper birds and the crow don’t move. Sister...
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The paper birds roost next to Luna and seem suddenly sharper and more dangerous. Sister Ignatia steps back as the rocks under Luna’s feet shudder. Sister Ignatia warns that the birds...
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Sister Ignatia approaches Luna, magically brings Luna to her feet, and says that Luna has touched her...
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Chapter 35. In Which Glerk Smells Something Unpleasant
Sister Ignatia races through the forest, thinking of her boots and how much she loved them in...
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Sister Ignatia watches the thief walk and perform farm chores as though the boots are normal. She...
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Chapter 36. In Which a Map Is Rather Useless
...Luna caught sight of her scrying device when she made one to check for the Sorrow Eater . Glerk pulled Luna close and said they need to tell Fyrian, but Xan cried...
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Chapter 38. In Which the Fog Begins to Lift
...in their novitiate. In the Tower, Ethyne noticed that nobody mentioned the Witch and that Sister Ignatia never aged. At night, something stalked the halls, and when a Sister’s grandfather died, Sister...
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Chapter 40. In Which There Is a Disagreement about Boots
Sister Ignatia sweetly tells the madwoman to take off her boots. The madwoman leans against the stone...
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Sister Ignatia asks how the madwoman knows that name, but the madwoman says that everyone knows it....
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Chapter 41. In Which Several Paths Converge
The madwoman feels fantastic as she runs through the branches. Sister Ignatia pursues her. The madwoman pauses and looks wide. She sees Luna, Xan, Antain, Glerk, and...
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Chapter 44. In Which There Is a Change of Heart
...paper birds rise. They hear footsteps and Luna sees glowing, tiger-like eyes. Xan greets the Sorrow Eater .
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Chapter 45. In Which a Simply Enormous Dragon Makes a Simply Enormous Decision
Glerk and Fyrian watch the Sorrow Eater run up the hill. Glerk declares that they’ll surprise her, which he hasn’t done in...
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...says that they should charge. Fyrian is confused until Glerk says that the tiger lady—the Sorrow Eater —is the reason that Fyrian’s mother dove into the volcano and why other mothers are...
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Antain is confused to see Sister Ignatia . Xan tells Antain that Sister Ignatia is the Witch. The Sorrow Eater—whom, Luna realizes,...
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Luna focuses on the Sorrow Eater ’s sealed memories. Xan says that the babies didn’t die—the Sorrow Eater never knew that...
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The Sorrow Eater says that these are lies, but Luna can see that it’s true. She sees that...
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The Sorrow Eater ’s sorrow leaks out as Fyrian dives. They both lament their mothers as Fyrian picks...
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...The madwoman says that her boots can save them if Fyrian takes Glerk and the Sorrow Eater . They must go to the Protectorate to warn everyone. As Luna climbs on the...
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Chapter 46. In Which Several Families Are Reunited
Xan and the Sorrow Eater stay in the hospital wing of the Tower. Xan knows that she’ll die any day...
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...of Star Children arrives at the Protectorate. The Sisters throw the hospital windows open. The Sorrow Eater croaks for the Sisters to close them, and cries in pain. Xan asks them to...
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