Rising against oppression
The main theme of the novel is the uprising against oppression. Darrow himself is a symbol of rising against the oppressor and giving others hope. The world is built to enable the tyrants to take advantage of their positions on the backs of the others. It shows a boy from the bottom of the hierarchic pyramid rising to be an equal to his tyrants in power and stature, but with a different mindset. He experienced the cruelty of the tyrant firsthand and has the power to touch others to rise with him. Darrow has to learn that it is not without difficult decisions and sacrifices that he is able to rise, but those sacrifices only made him stronger in his will to bring a change to the world where humans no longer have to suffer and a few in power take advantage of the majority.
Nurtured evil
Jackal is the main villain of the novel. He is deceitful, cruel and manipulative. Despite him, his story provides hints and reasons behind his character. Growing up without his father’s love or approval, being an outcast and losing his mother young, his humanity slowly deteriorated. He became a man only caring about himself and seeing others as mere pawns in a game, willing to destroy the world if he can’t have it for himself. He is a representation of a nurtured evil, a product of his surrounding devoid of love or compassion.
Familial relations
The novel explores a theme of difficult parents and children relationships-the parents’ expectations, the children willing or unwilling to follow in their parents’ footsteps. The most conflicting character that represents this theme is Mustang or Virginia, Archgovernor Augustus’s daughter. Filled with immense love for her father she was conflicted when Darrow revealed the truth about himself. She is a representation of breaking the bounds of familial relations. She chose to better than her father and his reputation, she chose to fight alongside Darrow for a better world.
