Student Question
What page in Children of Blood and Bone contains the quote “I won’t let your ignorance silence my pain”?
Quick answer:
Different versions of Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone will contain different page numbers, so the quote can more reliably be found in chapter 45. Contextually, Zélie says these words to Inan as a reminder that he, as a privileged prince, cannot fully understand the pain she has experienced as a member of an oppressed class. His ignorance allows him to preach peace, but Zélie will not allow her people to be sacrificed for that goal.
It is important to remember that different versions and editions of Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone will have different page numbers. For more reliable navigational purposes, the quote appears in chapter 45, which is quite short, making the quote easy to locate.
That said, the precise location of the quote is, perhaps, less interesting than its context:
I won’t let your ignorance silence my pain.
Zélie says this line to Prince Inan as the two argue over Inan’s rejection of his own nature as a maji, his belief in the goodness of the kosidan guards, and the righteousness of King Saran’s decision to eradicate magic from Orisha through what amounted to genocide. King Saran is Inan’s father, and Inan was raised to believe that magic was inherently evil and dangerous. However, Zélie is a maji, and she has suffered deeply as a result of the monarchy’s actions: her...
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mother was murdered, and her broader community was torn apart by the genocide, and the maji continue to live life as an oppressed class.
The argument between Zélie and Inan and, more specifically the quote you have asked about, speak to some of the major themes of the novel: the ways in which privilege inspires ignorance and the mechanisms by which oppression operates. Though Inan has recently realized he is himself a maji, he was nonetheless raised among the privileged class. He has never had to experience the constant fear and threat of brutality that Zélie has, and this makes it difficult for him to understand why she is so determined to return magic to Orisha. In his eyes, reconciliation between the maji and the kosidan without magical interference is the correct way forward. By contrast, Zélie says,
Our [the maji’s] lack of power and our oppression are one and the same, Inan. Without power we’re maggots. Without power the monarchy treats us like scum!
When read as an allegory for racial oppression in the United States, Inan’s viewpoint is designed to resemble that of mainstream white society, which often focuses on notions of equality that don’t substantially disrupt the social, political, or economic status quo. By contrast, Zélie’s perspective reinforces the importance of Black empowerment and a more radical approach to social change. “I won’t let your ignorance silence my pain” is Zélie’s reclamation of the narrative surrounding her oppression: although her undertaking is dangerous and may indeed have broader sociopolitical ramifications, nothing tangible is likely to change for her or the rest of the maji if they continue to exist within the same unequal system without any power.
Ultimately, Inan’s ignorance allows him to dream of a peaceful reconciliation between the maji and the kosidan, but Zélie refuses to let his desire for peace undermine her lived experiences or further condemn her people to suffer.