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Chapter 13
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Poppy War, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Dehumanization and the Horrors of War
Identity, Cultural Trauma, and Coming of Age
The Purpose of Education
Addiction, Drugs, and Control
History
Summary
Analysis
As Ramsa and Rin fortify some alleys near the wharf, Ramsa complains about how boring sieges are. He explains that the Federation hasn’t tried anything big yet, as Khurdalain is well fortified and survived two Poppy Wars. Ramsa then details how he came to work for the Cike: his parents were alchemists for the Militia, and his father got involved in an extremist group. After his father was executed, Ramsa spent two years in the Baghra prison before being offered a position with the Cike. Baji was also in Baghra, and Suni, Ramsa says, is nice when his god isn’t “fucking with his head.” Ramsa has no interest in becoming a shaman—he prefers the dependability of science.
The siege at Khurdalain is modeled off of the 1937 Battle of Shanghai, the first (and longest) battle of World War II. Despite this distinction, though, Ramsa makes the case that sieges, despite being battles, are fundamentally boring, as opposing sides try to wait the other out. Through this conversation, Rin gets another indication that war isn’t necessarily what she thought it was—it isn’t what her schooling taught her to expect.
Themes
Three days later, Altan calls Rin to check in. He briefly tells her how the Warlords detest the Cike and so deny them supplies and intelligence, and Rin admits that she finds the Cike “weird.” Altan explains that the Militia hates them because they don’t understand shamans and are jealous of the Cike’s free access to drugs. He also lists each Cike’s good qualities and liabilities, and he admits that it’s nearly impossible to figure out how to best use everyone. But he has a plan, and he’s calling a meeting to discuss it.
Rin is still struggling to adjust to being a Cike, but Altan’s kindness makes the transition more bearable. He further details how fractured the Nikan Militia is here, which should worry readers—it suggests it’s not an effective fighting force. Meanwhile, Altan also suggests that it’s fairly normal for humans to desire drugs, but like Jiang, he suggests drug use is only appropriate under specific circumstances—they shouldn’t be used to simply escape one’s everyday life, which the regular Militia soldiers seem to want to do.
Themes
Everyone arrives in the next few minutes, and Altan unfurls a map of Khurdalain noting where Militia and Federation units are stationed. He explains that the Federation is sending supply ships to the Murui River in three days, and he wants to sink the ships. Aratsha will manipulate the currents to trap the ships in irrigation channels, Ramsa will plant bombs, and the rest of them will defend the shore. Three nights later, Rin and Altan crouch in the mud, waiting to light off Ramsa’s bombs. Rin, Baji, and Suni have all taken drugs; Altan doesn’t need drugs to call the Phoenix. The Federation fleet of 12 arrives. To force the ships in the correct direction, Altan sends fire to detonate the bombs, which make it seem like there are lots of soldiers hiding. Minutes later, the Federation captain realizes his ships are trapped in the marsh.
Despite the difficulty of doing so, Altan develops a plan that allows each of his men (or women) to play to their strengths and work together toward a common goal. This is, in a sense, a major indicator that an army need not be entirely uniform in order to be successful: difference is a good thing, as people can bring different skillsets to the table. It’s an interesting note that Altan doesn’t need the help of any drugs to call the Phoenix. His connection to the god is, somehow, more constant or easier to access, though what exactly facilitates this connection remains a mystery.
Themes
Qara, a skilled archer, shoots enough arrows at the Federation to make it seem like an entire squadron is shooting at them. The boats are now burning, and Federation soldiers bail into the marsh, where Suni and Baji kill them quickly and brutally. A few soldiers break and run to where Rin and Altan hide, but Rin feels dangerously inebriated and can’t summon the fire. She becomes terrified and can’t concentrate, especially as she watches Baji and Suni, who are clearly being controlled by bloodthirsty gods right now. Just as Rin tells herself to do something, a Federation soldier grabs her ankle and crawls out of the water. To Rin’s shock, he's extremely young. Both young people are terrified as they fight, and Altan ultimately kills the Federation soldier.
Rin might be trying to exert control over her life (and this skirmish) through her drug use, but in practice, this attempt backfires. The poppy seeds make her paranoid and inebriated, and this makes her useless to Altan and the Cike. This represents a big learning experience for her, as it highlights how naive and inexperienced she still is. Additionally, it’s also a turning point when she comes face to face with the Federation soldier. She recognizes instantly that he’s much like her: young and terrified. In other words, she recognizes his humanity. But Altan still kills the Federation soldier, reinforcing the idea that war encourages fighters to dehumanize the enemy to justify violence and killing.
Themes
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Altan tells Rin to get back and calls the fire, burning soldiers as he advances. Watching him, Rin’s understanding of how the Cike relate to their gods deepens: their prayers ask the gods to “act through them.” Suddenly, it seems impossible that anyone could massacre the Speerlies, if they all fought like Altan. She watches as Altan boards the Federation’s boats, killing any surviving soldiers and throwing them into the now-boiling water. It’s horrifying. The captain kills himself before Altan can kill him, and the Cike retreat with two supply boats that Unegen and Qara stole. They hurry to the wharf, where Altan praises Ramsa for his explosives. Rin wants nothing more than to earn Altan’s praise.
Again, Rin might not be doing anything useful to the Cike, but she’s still learning and developing her understanding of how shamanism works. As if to underline how much of a learning experience this is for her, Rin’s thoughts shift back to the Speerly Massacre, an event she spent a not-insignificant amount of time considering while she was in school. Now that Rin knows she’s Speerly, the massacre also takes on new significance. She can no longer think of it as the genocide of a bunch of people wholly different from herself: her people, and her family, were murdered.
Themes
Altan allows Ramsa to light a bonfire in a field, and the Cike eats sugar from the boats they stole. Altan soon excuses himself to brief the Warlords. As soon as he’s gone, Baji and Ramsa begin joking about Altan’s seriousness. Listening to Suni speak, Rin privately wonders at Altan’s bravery, putting his life in danger to talk Suni down when Suni’s god overtakes him. Ramsa interrupts Rin’s thoughts to ask if she and Altan are going to have babies and bring Speerlies back. Rin explains how she destroyed her uterus, and the Cike discusses how sad everything about Speer is.
Perhaps because the Cike are all misfits (and because they’re shamans, as most Speerlies also were), they offer some of the most sympathetic views of Speer and the genocide on the island. Here, it’s implied that Rin maybe didn’t make the right choice when she destroyed her uterus and thus, her ability to have children. But that implication also ignores the fact that Rin’s goals have, throughout the novel, been mostly about making her own decisions and forging her own path. Her loyalty is to herself, in other words, rather than to Speer.
Themes
They discuss Tearza’s suicide, and Qara notes that it’s a lie that Tearza killed herself for love: that’s Nikara propaganda. In truth, Qara says, the Phoenix offered Tearza enough power to scare Nikan off for years, but Tearza thought the sacrifice was too great and refused. The Phoenix punished her. Qara thinks her refusal was entirely inappropriate for a ruler, and that Tearza deserved to die.
Qara strongly condemns Tearza here. Keep in mind that there’s no real way for readers to know what’s true; Rin has been told time and again that it's generally accepted that the truth of what happened to Tearza is lost to history. But thinking about the various options allows the characters to consider how they understand what leadership entails—and what serving a god entails, too.
Themes
Hours later, Rin is the last Cike still at the fire, and Altan joins her. They discuss her failure to perform earlier, and Altan apologizes for putting her into action before she’s had enough training. He does note that meditation isn’t appropriate in a battle setting, and he notes that Jiang is afraid and taught Rin explicitly to never call a god. Thus, Rin should disregard everything Jiang taught her and ignore his warnings about consequences. Altan counsels Rin to tap into her anger, as that will give her power. Privately, Rin remembers Jiang telling her that doing as Altan says would drive her mad, but Altan doesn’t seem mad. In fact, everyone else in the Cike seems mad, and she now thinks she knows who’s in the Chuluu Korikh. Altan suggests that calling the flames is easy for him—and he never actually stops calling the flames.
On the one hand, Altan doesn’t blame Rin for her failure to perform during the battle. But on the other, he also suggests that she’s holding too tightly to Jiang’s unhelpful ideas—and that her tendency toward judiciousness is now hurting her. However, it’s also worth noting that in this passage, Rin seems to come up with more reasons to idolize Altan, which may blind her to the fact that he's still human—and therefore is capable of giving bad advice. In that vein, it’s perhaps concerning that Altan links calling the Phoenix to his anger and that he never stops calling the flames. This suggests he’s constantly angry and perhaps isn’t fully in control of his emotions or his actions because of that.
Themes
