Discrimination

One of the primary themes in the novel is that of discrimination. First, from the beginning it is clear that anyone who is aware that Cinder is a cyborg is against her. From Chang Sacha in the marketplace to her own stepmother to her stepsister, Pearl, those who know of Cinder's robotic parts see her as less than human. When the book reveals that even the government has instituted a draft to test the deadly plague against cyborgs, it becomes even more apparent that the population of the Earth Union is against cyborgs. Rather than test on "humans," the government instead chooses to test on those less than human, or cyborg. Although it is later learned this had actually been done in an effort to find Selene, this still shows that cyborgs are considered less than human.

Yet another strike against Cinder is the discrimination on Earth against...