62 pages • 2 hours read
R. F. KuangThe Dragon Republic (The Poppy War, #2)
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Scars
Content Warning: This section addresses self-harm and physical abuse.
Many characters in The Dragon Republic bear physical scars that symbolize the lasting physical and psychological effects of warfare: Venka’s arms are scarred and disabled, Kitay’s arms are scarred with burn marks, Nezha’s back and face are laced with scars, and Rin is covered with scars where she’s burned herself, stabbed herself, or been injured.
Kitay’s scars symbolize his attempts to understand and come to terms with The Destruction and Inhumanity of War. He burns himself in an attempt to comprehend how the people of the Federation felt when they were consumed by fire. For others, like Nezha, scars signify punishment. Though Nezha’s dragon tattoo is a decade old, it looks like a “scar” that was “freshly inflicted” (467). The dragon’s mark on his skin symbolizes how Nezha has been “claimed for [the dragon’s] own” (476)—he sees this as a punishment for Mingzha’s death, which he blames himself for.
Further, for Rin and Kitay, scars symbolize connection. After Rin’s wings injure her back, Kitay gets a scar in the “same shape,” symbolizing the interconnectedness of their lives. This literal manifestation of their symbolic connection later becomes a plot device when they scar their skin to communicate about where Rin is being kept prisoner.
Rin also has several battle scars and scars from Shiro’s experimentation, and she thinks of these as her “atonement” for her war crimes. She sees them as an external manifestation of how “she [is] monstrous” inside (239). Here, Rin engages in the stigmatizing logic of narrative prosthesis, using her physical representation of difference as a metaphor for her negative self-perception and guilt. However, characters like Venka demonstrate the unjust and oppressive nature of the practice of characterizing people by their physical and mental scars and of using physical scars as metaphors for a person’s inner state. Venka is deeply hurt by other characters’ stigmatizing reactions to her scars.
Altan’s Trident
Altan’s trident symbolizes his legacy and the pressure Rin feels to live up to it. She is given the trident by Vaisra, who uses Rin’s sentimentality to manipulate her into becoming a weapon for his rebellion. As Rin struggles to use the trident in battles, Nezha tries to persuade Rin to stop using it, telling her, “You’re much better with a sword” (209). However, by insisting on using the trident, Rin is trying to become Altan rather than embracing her strengths as a person.
When Rin faces the vision induced by Daji’s venom, she kills her mental image of Altan with the trident, finally realizing that “Altan was no hero” (404). She frees herself from the burden of his legacy. Shortly after, she gets the trident melted down into swords. She admits that the trident, like the image of Altan she created in her mind, is “ruined for [her]” (504). She embraces the fact that she is much better with a sword. This symbolizes how Rin embraces her individual identity.
Lotus Dumplings
After Jinzha is defeated at Boyang, he goes missing. Months later, Daji sends a basket of lotus-shaped dumplings made from Jinzha’s flesh to Vaisra, accompanied by the message: “The Dragon devours his sons” (486). While this demonstrates the destruction and inhumanity of war, it also symbolizes The Complexities of Power and Oppression, particularly Vaisra’s complicity in the oppression of the Nikara and his abuse of his family members.
Vaisra’s war turns Nikara against itself. Even when he is winning the war he shows ruthlessness and brutality, forcing civilians to vote to join the Republic or die. When he begins losing, his tendency toward violence and domination grows more extreme. When the southern warlords say that Vaisra’s behavior will lead to tens of thousands of deaths in their provinces, he says, “Then they will die” (488). Vaisra will in essence “devour” his people to shore up his power.
He holds the same attitude even toward his sons. After Nezha betrays her, Rin realizes that when they were young, Mingzha and Nezha went into the grotto because Vaisra let them. Vaisra risked his children’s lives because he “wanted a shaman” (631). The dragon then literally devoured Mingzha and violated Nezha’s freedom and bodily autonomy, claiming his life and body as its own. Vaisra tells Rin, “The House of Yin has always done what it has needed to” (631). This statement confirms that he will sacrifice anyone and anything for power, even his people and his children.
Related Titles
By R. F. Kuang
