A Forbidden Alchemy
57 pages • 1-hour read
Stacey McEwanA Forbidden Alchemy
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Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes mention of sexual content, child abuse, and graphic violence.
Fire
In the novel, fire symbolizes both human passion and the danger of unchecked power. It appears in moments of intimacy, anger, and devastation, linking personal desire with destruction. When Nina and Patrick first discover the secret of the siphoning ceremony, Patrick’s anger burns as “his blood was so laced with heat… It set him on fire,” while Nina “seemed to extinguish” beside him (37-38). This contrast defines their characters: his passion flares outward into action while hers goes inward. Fire thus mirrors their lives’ direction for the next 13 years. He begins to lead a rebel movement while she hides, unsure of what to do next.
Fire returns when the romantic tension between Nina and Patrick begins to build: “his fingers… left a trail of fire” and later, “we were both burning, our skin flaming beneath the fabric” (262, 165). Each time their bodies are close, they feel the heat between them. Their connection is impossible to ignore, but the presence of fire also signals its danger.
The same heat and fiery conviction that drives love also fuels war. When the raid engulfs Kenton Hill, “fire danced across tiles and disappeared down chimney flumes” (456-57). Here, the fire is personified, taking on a life of its own. Its antidote is water, which Theo symbolizes. Just as he creates a wave to put out the Artisan army’s fires, he sweeps Nina along in a romantic current before her fiery romance with Patrick begins.
Earth
Earth functions as a symbol closely tied to Nina’s character, representing both her power and fear. She is the only living earth Charmer—she is alone the master of her medium, a fact that in itself contains both power and uncertainty. As an earth Charmer, her connection to the ground is physical and psychological. When she begins to work with the earth, she struggles to stop. This indicates that, although she has a natural connection and strength, she is capable of losing control and potentially harming those she cares about.
Nina’s earliest memories are tied to the earth. Her father nearly died in the mines on the day of her birth, linking her to earth’s destructive power. She drinks the idium in part to get away from this, but ironically, the idium strengthens her connection with earth. When the bomb detonates at graduation and “concussed” the earth beneath them, Nina loses Aunt Francis (89). In both of these instances, earth is central to Nina losing a parental figure; after the mining accident, her father is still alive, but he is never the same. His change spurs her mother to leave and seek opportunities for Nina elsewhere. Even though Aunt Francis is part of Nina’s false identity, she acts as a parental figure for Nina’s Artisan self.
Nina’s power transforms that trauma into strength, but she never loses sight of earth’s destructive potential. She feels most alive underground, but the ground can also bury her. She wonders if miners “heard it hum the same dirge” (232), suggesting that the land itself grieves the death it witnesses and the exploitation it endures. For Nina, mastering her medium requires facing her own history.
Printed Media
Throughout A Forbidden Alchemy, printed words—newspapers, letters, proclamations—form a recurring motif that reveals the theme of The Subjective Nature of Morality. The Trench Tribune appears repeatedly as both record and weapon, shaping public perception of the war between Artisans and Crafters and carrying misinformation to shape public opinion. Headlines declare, “TANNER REFUSES MINERS UNION DEMANDS” and “REBELS RUMORED TO HAVE CAPTURED THE LAST ALCHEMIST,” each story portraying a version of the truth to maintain the House of Lords’ authority (70, 97).
These articles frame human suffering as political rhetoric. Even condolences become part of the government’s political performance: “The Right Honorable Lord also offered his sincerest sorrows… ‘Long live Belavere’” (63). The print media controlled by the state uses loss to preserve its power. When Nina reads, “MINERS UNION TAKES STRIKE INTO SIXTH WEEK […] TERRANIUM FAMINE FEARED” (82), the words haunt her. The phrasing of this headline blames the Union for withholding its labor and labels the resulting terranium shortage a “famine.” Children go hungry in brink towns every year, yet Tanner defines the material shortage as a famine in order to garner sympathy from the masses and continued support for the upcoming war. Propaganda becomes inseparable from reality as it shapes emotion and ideology.
Polly’s letter to Lord Tanner informing him of Kenton Hill’s tunnel system adds to this motif, demonstrating the importance of printed messages in this war (448). The raid happens as a direct result of this letter. For the House of Lords, every message, official or personal, becomes part of the information war. Through repetition of headlines, reports, and letters, the motif underscores the subjective nature of morality when truth itself becomes a political construct.
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