Themes
The Concept of Monstrosity and Society’s Role in Creating It
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of child abuse, child death, graphic violence, illness and death, emotional abuse, and physical abuse.
The author represents society both in the “mob mentality” of crowds gathered for public events and in the reactions of a few relatively undeveloped tertiary characters (e.g., Adelina’s father and Giulietta). Society has a strong influence over the development of the “monsters” in the story. Considering how uniformly cruel the populace and these characters are regarding malfettos, their influence on Adelina, Teren, and Violetta creates an underlying situational irony: Judging malfettos as “monsters” feeds their monstrous traits.
The “mob mentality” of Kenettran citizenry and their judgment of the “monsters” among them is most apparent in scenes from Adelina’s first-person viewpoint. She witnesses those gathered for her execution and their heartless jeers and insults—though they have no facts about the supposed “murder” she committed. Crowd members also have little emotional control at the horse race, and their innate morbid curiosity drives them to watch Teren’s burning of three young malfettos. In each situation, the crowd’s fear and unrest feed Adelina’s energies; their negativity sustains her ability to cast monstrous illusions. The crowd has no idea of the real interplay between forces; their aspersions against malfettos directly feed Adelina’s growing internal darkness, symbolizing how the unchecked emotions of an ignorant citizenry drive monstrosity.
Cold and calculating, Giulietta represents Kenettra’s overall attitude against malfettos, propagated after the blood fever ten years before left certain young people “marked” and, in society’s estimation, ruined. When Giulietta was 16 and Teren 12, she manipulated Teren’s sordid opinion of himself: “I am a deformed creature” (116). She promised him absolution from the gods for his “abomination” if made her quest to “rid this world of all malfettos” (118). Now older, Teren is infatuated with Giulietta and plays her secret, willing lover; not only is his intent to kill malfettos stronger, but he devotedly commits murder for her and supports her rule as the most “pure.” Society’s distaste for malfettos and Giulietta’s exploitative treatment help to make Teren a murdering monster.
Violetta hides her “monstrosity” for 10 years, revealing she is an unmarked malfetto and Young Elite only in the late stages of the story. It is her father’s cruel treatment of malfetto Adelina that silences Violetta; like Giulietta, Violetta and Adelina’s father is a tertiary character that represents society’s shunning of malfettos. Ironically, though their father never learns the truth—that he has not one but two malfetto daughters, both Young Elites—his influence forces Violetta to keep secret her true identity as it grows and strengthens. Like Adelina and Teren, Violetta’s “monstrous” powers are subject to influence by biased members of society.
The Journey to Understanding and Fulfilling One’s True Purpose
Besides Adelina’s physical trip from Dalia to Estenzia after Enzo foils Teren’s attempt to execute her, journeys in The Young Elites are metaphorical. Violetta, for example, makes progress along her character arc journey, discovering partial fulfillment in some ventures through courage and tenacity. While Adelina’s overall character journey to her true purpose will continue in the second and third installments of the series, she makes defined strides toward it by the time Raffaele banishes her.
Violetta wages a quiet internal battle as she and Adelina grow up. She takes two secrets upon herself after the blood fever, telling no one despite their weightiness: She keeps her malfetto status and Elite powers secret, and she “pulls” Adelina’s powers constantly so that Adelina does not know that she is a Young Elite either. Violetta makes important gains toward the fulfillment of her true purpose once she comprehends the threat of Teren in the Inquisition Tower. Though Violetta has little endurance with her powers, Enzo quickly recruits her help in his duel with Teren. In both situations, she helps to thwart Teren’s violence by subjecting him to pain and injury. This revelation and acceptance in Violetta show progress toward her identity as an Elite and her true purpose.
Adelina begins to fret over her identity with the first illusions she creates. As her powers grow and her illusions become more dangerous to others, she fears not only the impact of the illusions but also the strong desire they create within her to use them for vengeful purposes. Adelina fights this journey toward darkness by resisting the traitorous role of spy, rescuing Violetta, and eventually telling the truth about Teren. But when she realizes that Raffaele has not trusted her from the start and that she will be banished for her role in Enzo’s death, she embraces the strides she has made toward a darker and more vengeful identity in vowing to form her own Elite society.
Neither sister, however, is at the end of their fulfillment journey by the novel’s end. Violetta offers to control Adelina’s powers for her so that Adelina can halt her descent into darkness. Though Violetta’s indirect character traits of kindness and love indicate that she would find complete fulfillment in caring for Adelina this way, and though Adelina might find greater peace without her embittered vengeance, Adelina prevents their fulfillment by insisting on the return of her powers. The journey for both will continue throughout the series.
The Impact of Secrecy on Power, Corruption, and Redemption
The Young Elites is a story of secrets. Secrets impact many relationships and choices in the narrative, but Enzo’s true identity as the prince of Kenettra, Teren’s love affair with Giulietta, and Adelina’s secret suffering as Teren’s spy have the most direct impacts on conflicts with power, corruption, and redemption.
Adelina recognizes Enzo as the prince of Kenettra as soon as they talk privately upon her arrival in Estenzia. Not only does his rightful role as heir help logically justify Enzo’s desire to overthrow his sister and her husband, but it also provides sympathy for this otherwise somber and troubled character. While the Daggers and his patrons know the Reaper’s true identity, the citizens of Kenettra do not know that the Reaper and the dismissed malfetto prince are the same. This secret establishes the need for Enzo to build up his power as the head of the Daggers without being able to rely on his formerly bestowed power as a prince. Gaining respect and authority without his title indirectly proves Enzo’s strength, cleverness, and courage. The “reveal” moment when he unmasks at the duel to the shock of the gathered crowd swings the power in his direction, which heightens the suspense of the coming fight.
Teren’s secret love affair with Giulietta is a strong example of corruption in the court of Kenettra, not only because they are committing adultery against the king but also because Giulietta’s passion for Teren is more about manipulation and motive than sincere love. She uses Teren’s infatuation with her and his deep-seated desire for a “pure” Kenettra free of malfettos to her advantage, having Teren murder the king and allowing him to wreak chaos in the streets of Kenettra as she rises to the seat of power as the queen. Their secret objectives and corrupt relationship thus impact the pace and tension as the novel approaches its climactic scenes.
Adelina’s secret suffering as Teren’s spy builds suspense throughout the rising action, but it also supplies a crucial element of sympathy for this dark protagonist. She confides her angst only to the reader, unable to tell Enzo, Raffaele, or the others despite her desire to truly enter their group. This dramatic irony provides a reason to root for Adelina, as her suffering makes evident a path to redemption and forgiveness. Her imminent culpability over the potential downfall of Enzo and the Dagger Society drives her to keep their secrets even at the moment Teren threatens to kill Violetta; this allows that redemptive path to widen throughout the climax. Ironically, when she tells the truth about her secrets—and Raffaele banishes her anyway—Adelina rejects redemption and swears for future vengeance. Like the secrets Teren, Giulietta, and Enzo kept, Adelina’s secrets increase suspense through their complex impact on the plot.
Unlock every key theme and why it matters
Get in-depth breakdowns of the book’s main ideas and how they connect and evolve.
- Explore how themes develop throughout the text
- Connect themes to characters, events, and symbols
- Support essays and discussions with thematic evidence