Belonging

The feeling of being an outcast and the desire to belong is a large theme throughout the novel. This theme first presents itself in Rin's role within her foster family. Rin makes the comment that the Fangs had never wanted her and that "They'd taken her in as an infant only because the Empress's mandate after the Second Poppy War forced households with fewer than three children to adopt war orphans" (7). The Fang's then used her as free labor from the time she was old enough to walk and count. Their lack of acceptance and familial warmth is indicative of how Rin has always grown up as an outcast. In having Rin grow up as an outcast, the author is able to force the readers to think about how that would affect Rin's choices later on in the novel. She never felt included during her early...