Children of Blood and Bone Reflection 1

Raised in Fear, Raised in Love

    I am particularly drawn to the way in which Adayemi nods to the workings of oppression and the posing of solutions to reclaim a free, liberated future thereafter. The different characteristic types of different members of the royal family, specifically King Saran compared to his daughter, Princess Amari, is where these actions are best observed. King Saran only faced destruction and pain when he was met with the power of the Maji and hates their very existence. Princess Amari, on the other hand, holds no discontent towards the diviners and wishes to help them in wake of the murder of her diviner best friend, Binta. It is as if Adayemi is trying to communicate to readers that oppression does not have to persist simply because the sources of such destruction still exist, rather that there is room to alter the course of history if we are raised under the right circumstances. 

    Due to his upbringing, King Saran has always seen the Maji as threats to Kosidan power, so he made the suppression of their community permanent. It is said that the Raid that took out all the Maji occurred because King Saran claimed that the powerful magic-wielders had slaughtered his loved ones, from his first-born son to his father (Adayemi 81-2). Growing up with the perspective that the Maji and diviners are responsible for taking away all joy and love from his life, it is reasonable to conclude that those tragedies are what fuel the King's burning desire to suppress all magic until the end of time. So, out of fear of being wiped out himself, King Saran took matters into his own hands to slaughter the Maji while they were weak. When the few diviners touched the scroll artifact that reignited their powers, although still weak, the Kings soldiers murdered them in cold blood (Adayemi 40). Their magic had not manifested long enough for them to be considered a true threat, able to fight back, but they still perished at the hands of the King's power. Any perceived threat of the Maji regaining their strength is enough for King Saran to eliminate them, despite their innocence. Since King Saran had only consistently been met with first-hand destruction from the Maji's magic on his royal line, he believes he had no choice but to dedicate his life to subduing those who would have the potential to wield magic. He believes that he is doing what is best for his family, that the diviners deserve no grace, compassion, or equal treatment because of how their past relatives threatened the security of the royal lineage. As a result of his response to his losses, oppression unrelentingly persists against the Diviners as a way for King Saran to get his revenge while simultaneously maintaining the sovereignty of the royal family.

    Princess Amari, on the other hand, grew up with a diviner constantly by her side and could more easily recognize their humanity in comparison to her father. Binta was her servant whom the Princess spent countless hours with every day. They dreamed of running away together and Binta was always there to comfort and soothe Amari like no one else could. This deep, longstanding relationship between the two of them is likely the reason why Amari views the diviners differently than her father. It has rooted a greater sense of appreciation and mercy towards diviners like Binta rather than deep-rooted hatred and fear. As a result, when she is traveling to the Chandomble temple with Zelie and Tzain, Amari trades in her headdress (Adayemi 128). This item was the most valued thing that she owned, as it was the last remaining relic that reminded her of her dear Binta. She was selfless in this exchange, giving up the last memory of the recent past in hopes of getting them closer to bettering the future by restoring the magic to the Diviners. In this instance, Amari faced a great loss just as her father had, but she instead sought to liberate rather than to suppress. 

    Princess Amari is the future, not her father, and she has the ability to shift the treatment of the diviners as time passes. King Saran faced major losses of his loved Kosidan family and has relentlessly oppressed the community of people that his family's murderers came from thereafter as means of revenge. Princess Amari, on the other hand, lost her closest companion and chose to lift up Binta's community to avenge her rather than directly suppressing Kosidan people like herself. Amari chose emancipation over subjugation. King Saran was raised to fear and detest the diviners and Maji, but Princess Amari evaded the full effects of that kind of upbringing because of her close tie to Binta. Princess Amari could then recognize that the diviners were not sources of destruction and power-fueled greed, rather that they were just as equally people as the Kosidan's were. These two different images of the diviner people that the royals were faced with severely altered the ways in which they treated them. Princess Amari was always met with care and love from Binta, so that is all she desires to return to the diviner people. Now that the newer generation of royals has begun to unveil their eyes to see the truth of the diviner people, there lays an opportunity for change.