The Poppy War

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-5

Part 1, Chapters 6-9

Part 2, Chapters 10-16

Part 2, Chapter 17-Part 3, Chapter 21

Part 3, Chapters 22-26

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

Opium

Content Warnings: This section of the guide discusses self-harm, drug addiction, explicit wartime violence, sexual assault, human experimentation, suicide, and genocide.

Opium is a motif that illuminates how Nikara society is affected by Addiction as a Tool of Control. Kuang has stated that she wanted to “play with the duality of opium as a source of not just weakness but also power” (Kuang, R. F. “R. F. Kuang on the Dark History Behind The Poppy War.” B&N Reads. 29 June 2018). Rin has been around opium her entire life because the Fangs employed her as a drug runner for their smuggling business. Opium addiction plagues much of Nikan’s population, including her Uncle Fang. Auntie Fang teaches Rin how people from marginalized identities, such as lower-class women like themselves, can use opium as a tool of control. She tells Rin that an arranged marriage is survivable; Rin must simply ply her husband with opium until he has an addiction. Then Rin “[would] have his riches, his estates, and his power” (14).

Jiang teaches Rin how to use opium to open her mind to the gods. He teaches Rin about shamans, the gods, and the universe. Then Jiang uses opium to draw “these threads into one unified theory, a theory of spiritual connection through psychedelics to the dream world where the gods might reside” (193). Opium is an agent of shamanistic control; it is the tool shamans use to connect with the gods and access their power.

However, shamans are still susceptible to addiction. In his lab, Shiro reveals that the Nikara military purposely kept Altan addicted to opium to ensure he is under their control. This illustrates the duality of “weakness” and “power” Kuang described in her interview.

Fire and The Phoenix

Fire is a major symbol in The Poppy War. In the Chinese zodiac, fire is represented by Zhūquè, the Vermillion Bird. R. F. Kuang’s fire manifests through the Phoenix: the patron god of the Speerly race.

When Jiang uses the five elements to teach Rin about balance, he likens fire to “the heat in your blood in the midst of a fight, the kinetic energy that makes your heart beat faster” (121). He warns her that if she has too much fire, she’ll “lash out recklessly” (126). Additionally, the Speerly connection to the Phoenix allows Rin (and Altan) to literally conjure and manipulate fire. The Speerly Woman, who guards against access to the Phoenix, warns Rin: “Fire is insatiable, alone among the elements…it will devour you until you are nothing” (210).

As Rin grows closer to the Phoenix, these warnings prove true. Once Rin has felt the power of the fire, she desires and fears it. The Phoenix’s fire symbolizes power, rage, and greed, and is tied to the theme of Addiction as a Tool of Control. After she calls the Phoenix for the first time, Rin craves its power. She lies to Jiang and ignores the Woman’s warnings; once with the Cike, she has Altan and Chaghan help her eliminate further barriers to her power. Similarly, Altan’s fire stems from rage and his obsession with revenge. As shamans, Rin and Altan are reliant on opium to connect with and silence their god, respectively; thus, fire and the Phoenix are also tied to literal opium addiction.

The Phoenix manipulates them by preying on these addictions while constantly demanding destruction. It emphasizes Rin’s freedom of choice and tells her that the gods “cannot help what [they] are; [they] are pure essence, pure element” (501). It is a manifestation of fire’s ability to consume and destroy beyond human control.

The Phoenix manifests physically through Rin and Altan when they are irate. As they argue over Nezha’s capture, Altan’s eyes become the “color of fire itself” (386), while Rin feels fire in her veins calling for “blood and ashes” (386). Altan’s fire in particular reflects his rage and pain: “It was a deep, slow burn. [Rin] could almost taste it, the venomous intent, the ancient misery” (387).

When Altan self-immolates, fire takes its final symbolic form. Rin watches him walk to his death and realizes that the Woman was right: “[t]he fire doesn’t give, the fire takes, and takes, and takes” (492). Justice through fire can only take the form of death and destruction; this is further proven when Rin gives her body to the Phoenix as an avatar, causing the explosion that destroys Mugen.

The Phoenix cannot affect the mortal world without a shaman. Unlike their ancestor Mai’rinnen Tearza, who burned away “[her] body, [her] power, and Speer’s hope for freedom” to keep the Phoenix in check (500), Rin and Altan both choose to unleash its power to defeat their enemies. This represents The Brutality of War and the Dehumanization of the Enemy, and the lengths to which people will use, and justify, violence against others.

Scars

Scars symbolize different things for different characters. Rin and Altan bear physical scars that symbolize a drive to harness pain into focus and the scientific cruelty inflicted on marginalized races, respectively. Almost every character carries mental scars that symbolize the lasting trauma inflicted by The Brutality of War and the Dehumanization of the Enemy.

Tutor Feyrik tells Rin a story of a scholar who pinned his braid to the ceiling so it would yank when he drifted to sleep. Rin interprets this as: “pain made him focus” (22). She drips hot wax on her arms when she grows drowsy, pushing herself to stay awake and study for the Keju. When Tikany officials claim Rin cheated, she shows them her scars as evidence. She says, “I studied for this exam. I mutilated myself” (27). Rin wears her scars like a trophy. The scars symbolize her triumph, but they also teach her that to gain power and better her station, she must inflict pain on herself. Rin carries this lesson throughout the trilogy; she is always willing to harm herself for power and victory.

Altan’s scars denote the dehumanization of the Speerly race. Rin notices Altan’s scars: “Many were jagged battle wounds. Others were startlingly neat, symmetrical and clean as if carved deliberately into his skin” (426). These are evidence of the medical experimentation Altan underwent as a child. Shiro says that his experiments are driven by a desire for knowledge, particularly about what makes Speerlies so unique. His lab gives him “[a]n endless supply of cadavers! Boundless opportunities for experimentation!” (476). Shiro views Altan and Rin as specimens, not people, and has no qualms with leaving permanent surgical scars on them.

Many characters bear mental scars related to wartime violence. Jiang refuses to discuss his experiences during the Second Poppy War, many of which he cannot remember due to his Seal. When his Seal begins to erode, he locks himself away in fear of his own destructive power. After Venka recounts her treatment in the relaxation house, Rin sees that “[h]er eyes [are] like shattered glass” (425). Kitay, who also witnessed the horrors of Golyn Niis, is similarly changed: “Kitay was numb; for Kitay the suffering had been normalized” (419). After the massacre, Kitay can no longer view Mugenese soldiers as fellow people. After learning what Altan underwent at Shiro’s hands, Rin has a new perspective on his addiction: “Smoking the pipe had to be the only time that he was not consumed with his misery, with scars that would never heal” (438). The Brutality of War and the Dehumanization of the Enemy leaves irreparable scars that change characters forever.