These Violent Delights Themes

In These Violent Delights, Roma and Juliette first meet as teenagers and quickly fall in love. But the blood feud between their families, each of which leads rival gangs, drives them apart. Juliette in particular identifies Roma and all other White Flower Gang members as her sworn enemies. The novel then traces how Roma and Juliette come back together to investigate the mystery of the monster and plague of madness sweeping through Shanghai. When…

In These Violent Delights, the Scarlet Gang and White Flower Gang are engaged in bitter gang warfare. That conflict stems from two major events in the past. First, the White Flower Gang bombed the servants’ quarters at the Scarlet Gang’s headquarters, killing several people. The Scarlet Gang then retaliated by killing Roma’s mother, Lady Montagova. Now, as soon as members of one gang see members of the other, they immediately brandish weapons…

At different points in These Violent Delights, Juliette and Roma both feel betrayed by one another. For example, Juliette believes that Roma betrayed her due to his involvement in the bombing of the servants’ quarters at the Scarlet Gang headquarters four years before the novel takes place. She then declares him her enemy and doesn’t speak to him for years. Later, though, Juliette learns that the situation is more complicated than she initially imagined…

Throughout much of These Violent Delights, Roma and Juliette search for a monster that is responsible for spreading a plague of madness through Shanghai that causes people to tear out their own throats. The monster itself becomes a specter of fear and a symbol of the terror that the contagious disease instills in people in Shanghai. Ultimately, Roma and Juliette discover that the monster is Qi Ren, the personal assistant of Zhang Gutai…