The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War, #2)

Rin experiences the grim reality of war, realizing that neither her side nor her opponents have a clear ethical high ground and that wartime violence affects different demographics of people to varying degrees. There is no clear “right” or “wrong” side in a conflict, and even when Rin believes she has the moral high ground, she finds it difficult to justify committing retributive violence. Through her experiences, the novel suggests that all wars—even those that might seem justified—are tragedies.

Rin struggles with guilt after destroying Mugen. She tells herself that this is an “irrational feeling” and not a “moral concept” (15), even though her own unreliable narration shows she only wants to believe that it’s irrational. She “[tells] herself she [isn’t] sorry” for destroying Mugen though she nevertheless feels guilty and “the memory loom[s] like a gaping chasm in her mind” (15). Rin realizes that her act of violence isn’t justifiable, even though the Federation committed genocide against her people, the Speerly. The reality of war is that innocent people died as a result of the genocide she perpetrated in Mugen, and she struggles with this. She thinks about “[m]others reaching for their children” or “[h]usbands wrapping their arms around their wives,” dying “with no idea why their skin was scorching off” (63).