Ignite Me

“I never stopped to consider that someone else might have it worse than I do.”

Juliette’s epiphany after hearing about the pain that Warner’s mother suffers reorients her understanding of her past and sets the trajectory for her character arc. In connecting to someone else’s suffering, she begins to redefine herself, not as a victim who cannot do anything in response to the injustices leveled against her, but as a survivor who has the power to fight back.

“I’ve never claimed to be right, or good, or even justified in my actions. The simple truth is that I do not care. I have been forced to do terrible things in my life, love, and I am seeking neither your forgiveness nor your approval.”

Warner’s assessment of his own morality positions him as someone who makes no excuses for his past, someone Juliette can trust. This understanding that someone can be forced by circumstances to do terrible things without becoming a terrible person (within the novel’s moral framework) points to the novel’s exploration of the Justice of Violence as Juliette plots a murder and prepares to go to war for a cause she believes in.

“He’s unraveling before me, becoming something entirely different; terrifying me in a way I never could’ve expected.”

The invocation of the term “unraveling” references the title of the second book in the Shatter Me series, Unravel Me. Over the course of that novel, Juliette becomes more capable in her powers (a journey continued in Ignite Me). Thus, “unraveling” takes on a positive connotation here rather than a negative one. Given that this excerpt describes Juliette’s increased understanding of Warner, “unraveling” is presented as a process of revealing rather than dissolution.

“‘The Reestablishment,’ Warner says, ‘is not interested in maintaining a facade of kindness. The civilians are nothing more than peons to them. They want power,’ he says to me, ‘and they want to be entertained. They are not interested in fixing our problems. They only want to make sure they are as comfortable as possible as we dig our own graves.’

‘No.’

‘Yes,’ he says. ‘It is exactly that simple. Everything else is just a joke to them. The texts, the artifacts, the language. They just want to scare people, to keep them submissive, to strip them of their individuality—to herd them into a singular mentality that serves no purpose but their own.’”

Warner here explains, in simple terms, the purpose behind a totalitarian regime’s need for control over social life. While emblems of that regime will emerge in every aspect of the life of its subjects, its purpose is simply to maintain complete authority over those citizens, for the benefit of the ruling few.

“‘Damn,’ Kenji says after a moment. ‘Damn damn damn. This shit is bananas.’”

Kenji’s flippant remark serves as a cultural touchstone (the line “This shit is bananas” comes from Gwen Stefani’s 2004 song “Hollaback Girl”) indicating that the origin of the dystopian society of Ignite Me is the real-world society from which Tahereh Mafi writes. This reference implies a connection between real-world concerns (including economic disparity and ecological collapse) and the concerns of this fictional world, suggesting that a regime like The Reestablishment is a possible real-world future.

“And I’m sorry to keep asking, but are you certain you want to stay here?”

Warner’s apology illustrates an acknowledgement of the way in which continually soliciting someone’s opinion after they have already expressed it can be experienced as dismissive of that opinion. By contrast, Adam repeatedly demands to know if Warner is someone that Juliette really wishes to ally herself with, positioning the two potential love interests in opposition to each other with regard to their respect for Juliette’s autonomy—a juxtaposition Mafi uses to underscore the theme of Love Triangles as Representing Personal Growth for her protagonist.

“Every insult he hurls at me seems to fracture my bones. Pretty soon I’ll be nothing but blood and a beating heart.”

Juliette’s use of metaphor in this excerpt returns to the flowery language that she used with greater frequency in the first two novels of the series. The reversion here suggests the magnitude of her hurt just as much as her words. Moreover, her phrase is reminiscent of the axiom “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me,” albeit reversed. Words, Juliette counters, can be just as damaging as physical pain.

“I can’t believe I told Warner what to do and he listened to me.”

Juliette’s astonishment at Warner’s listening to her opinion indicates how rarely she has been listened to in her past—another indictment of her relationship with Adam. Additionally, her sense that she can give orders and have them be obeyed sets the stage for her increasing confidence in her ability to take charge of the rebellion and, looking forward, the government.

“He’s like a terrified, tortured animal. A creature who spent his whole life being beaten, abused, and caged away. He was forced into a life he never asked for, and was never given an opportunity to choose anything else. And though he’s been given all the tools to kill a person, he’s too emotionally tortured to be able to use those skills against his own father—the very man who taught him to be a murderer. Because somehow, in some strange, inexplicable way, he still wants his father to love him.

And I understand that.

I really, really do.”

Juliette’s characterization of the way Warner has suffered under his father’s cruelty indicates the emotional turmoil that can emerge as a result of parental abuse. Though Warner hates his father for his misdeeds, he still longs for a supportive parental relationship. Juliette’s own experience with her parents, though they exhibited neglect rather than physical abuse, leads her to empathize with Warner’s internal conflict.

“‘I trust myself,’ I tell him, ‘to be strong enough to do what’s right. Our world is dying right now. You said yourself that we have the means to reclaim our land—to change things back to the way they were. Once power is in the right place—with us—you can rebuild what you started at Omega Point. You’ll have the freedom to implement those changes to our land, water, animals, and atmosphere, and save millions of lives in the process—giving the new generations hope for a different future.’”

Juliette’s invocation of the ways in which The Reestablishment is an environmental dystopia accompanies her argument as to why she, despite her youth, is a good choice for a future leader. Her argument echoes many real-world defenses of environmental justice, which are frequently spearheaded by adolescents and young adults due to their investment in having a viable environment as they grow older.

“I know Adam didn’t mean to, but he was weighing me down. We were two sad people stuck together.”

Juliette’s framing of her and Adam’s relationship illustrates the notion that good intentions may not be sufficient to make a good relationship. This changed understanding—of herself and Adam as people who loved one another but who did not necessarily benefit from that love—allows her to process some of her trauma and move away from her self-identification as a “sad person.”

“Don’t you think it kills me to know that it was my own unwillingness to recognize myself as a human being that kept me trapped for so long?”

Juliette here reflects on the material significance that confidence plays in her development over the course of the Shatter Me series. After learning that she has super strength, she realizes that the walls of the asylum could not have held her, if only she’d tried to break free. Her incarceration thus emerges as a mental prison as much as a physical one, which mirrors the cruel conditions The Reestablishment uses to control its subjects.

“I always knew your powers, once harnessed, would be unmatched.”

In saying that he “always knew” that Juliette’s powers would prove stronger than anyone else’s, Warner takes on a prophetic role that mirrors the religious imagery sometimes use to characterize Juliette as a protagonist. Warner thus emerges in the role of guide and encourager: While she learns to trust in her own power, he models this conviction.

“Warner flinches unexpectedly. He looks more carefully at James. ‘No,’ he says slowly. ‘It’s not a terrible thing to have food and hot water all the time.’”

Warner’s conversation with James parallels Juliette’s realization earlier in the novel that others have suffered more dramatically than she has. Though Warner has indeed suffered mental, physical, and emotional abuse from his father (who is, unbeknownst to either of them, also James’s father), he has not experienced the struggles of poverty.

“‘Strength is excellent,’ he says, ‘but it’s worth nothing without technique.’”

Warner’s determination to teach Juliette to fight continues to emphasize the mentor-mentee role that they often adopt within their relationship. Juliette’s physical strength dramatically outmatches Warner’s, but his training makes him an equally fierce opponent. The novel thus presents the two as evenly matched, despite their very different skillsets.

“[Adam] said he loved that about me. That I was so good. So sweet. That I was the only good thing left in the world.

I think I always knew that wasn’t true.

Maybe he’s starting to see it, too.”

Juliette’s assertion takes on layers of meaning within the context of the narrative. Implying that she knew she wasn’t “the only good thing left in the world,” underscores the naive elements of her and Adam’s intense attachment in the series’s previous novels. The suggestion that she isn’t “so good,” adds to the novel’s complex look at what constitutes “goodness” when fighting against a corrupt regime.

“I’m too nervous to banter right now.”

Juliette and Kenji’s friendship is characterized by frequent banter, even when their circumstances are dire and dangerous, underscoring the value the novel places on Friendship in Dystopias. As such, Juliette’s assertion that she is “too nervous to banter” when Warner does not return at an appointed place and time emphasizes her growing feelings for Warner and suggests that she feels stronger emotions around personal connections than around political or military ones.

“I will be unapologetic. I will live with no regrets. I will reach into the earth and rip out the injustice and I will crush it in my bare hands. I want Anderson to fear me and I want him to beg for mercy and I want to say no, not for you. Never for you.

And I don’t care if that’s not nice enough.”

Juliette’s claim here suggests that “justice” is a different concept from “mercy” and “niceness”—pointing to the novel’s ongoing examination of “goodness” (here made even more abstract from morality via the language of “niceness”) in revolutionary activities and strikes against the (frequently criticized by feminist readers) maxim that female protagonists should be “likable” or “nice.”

“‘Grieve nothing in this transitory world,’ he says softly.”

Though Warner frames his policy of “[grieving] nothing” as a pragmatic, his description of the world as “transitory” nevertheless offers an optimistic vision under a totalitarian regime. The Reestablishment sees itself as final (as Warner asserts earlier in the novel, they plan to make themselves comfortable until environmental disasters destroy the world, rather than taking action to prevent such destruction), but Warner rejects this idea. Moreover, his refusal to grieve fights back against the emotional warfare waged by The Reestablishment.

“‘[The Reestablishment lies] to you, over and over again, forcing you to take jobs in their army so they might control you. And you have no other choice,’ I say. ‘No other options. So you fight in their wars, and you kill your own friends, just so you might feed your families.’”

Juliette’s address to the soldiers of Sector 45 shifts their characterization in the series. While the soldiers are primarily antagonists in the Shatter Me series, Juliette points out that this antagonism is not of their choosing, and that they have also been victimized by The Reestablishment. Her speech motivates the soldiers to join her against the true exploitative force in their lives: the elites of The Reestablishment, represented by Anderson.

“I have never, in all my time in this sector, felt the kind of hope in my men that I felt today.”

Warner’s discussion of the atmosphere on base following Juliette’s call to arms shows how effective the messaging of The Reestablishment has been in eliminating any hope for justice in its citizenry. Conversely, his excitement suggests that hope is a powerful weapon in resisting totalitarian military dictatorships.

“Words are like seeds, I think, planted into our hearts at a tender age.”

Juliette’s metaphor about growth suggests that words spoken by parents (especially cruel or abusive words like those offered exclusively to Warner by Anderson) can grow along with the child who hears them. Unlike many plant-based metaphors, this one carries a negative implication, suggesting that the growth is stifling or malignant.

“Anderson never fights in his own wars. He never shows his face. And we’re relying on his cowardice to be our biggest advantage.”

As Juliette reaches her full power in the text, her understanding of Anderson focuses less on what the man possesses, and rather on what he lacks. Juliette’s refusal to see Anderson as all-powerful indicates the depth to which she has managed to escape from The Reestablishment’s propagandist narrative, and the novel’s insistence on the important of confidence and self-assurance suggests that this dismissal of Anderson’s strength is critical to Juliette’s success in killing him.