Children of Blood and Bone Reflection 2 - Katharine Burris

 The second third of Children of Blood and Bone includes a wakeup call to the inequalities that the upper class has perpetuated. The oppression of the maji serves as the key point within the novel, especially within Inan’s transformation. Something I found interesting after reading the second half was how the portrayal of magic and the maji changed from the first third to the second third. In the first third, the maji and their ancestors, such as Zelie, are called “maggots” and are continuously beaten down and degraded by the king’s regime. The maji face blatant inequality and discrimination, both socially and economically. They are kept to the edges of society and subjected to cruel treatment. However, I noticed a change in the portrayal of the maji from Inan in the second half. While searching for Zelie and Amari, he begins to realize that magic is something so much more powerful than anything he could have imagined, and the king works to degrade such magic out of a sense of fear. For example, Inan notices “growing up, Father led me to believe that those who clung to the myth of the gods were weak. They relied on beings they could never see, dedicating their lives to faceless entities... But now, staring at the Gods, I cannot even bring myself to speak” (210). Inan himself becomes fascinated by the maji and their history, saying that “in the face of magic we become ants” (185). The upper class has perpetuated the term “maggots” to make the maji seem smaller and more insignificant than they really are. Such realizations that Inan undergoes about the power of the maji show the people that have been brainwashed under the king's regime waking up to the inequalities they have created and the value they have diminished.  

The implications of Inan’s transformation are intricately linked to Afrofuturism, as it frequently explores the possibility for solidarity between the oppressed and high-class groups. Inan’s growing respect for the maji shows the awakening of understanding and empathy within the privileged groups. Therefore, his change shows that increased individuals may come to recognize the injustices they have perpetuated towards the maji and the possibility for social change to occur and create a world where everyone is on a level playing field.  

 

 

 

 

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