Fourth Wing

Throughout the novel, poison is employed to subversively thwart the plans of another. Whether used for or against the protagonists, it stands as a corruptive force, a silent unknown that can nonetheless sap the energy and life of the people upon whom it is inflicted. In this way, it is not unlike the corruptive power of propaganda itself, for just as Violet uses poison to take down her challenges during sparring matches, Navarre also uses poisonous propaganda to turn its people against those of neighboring nations, perpetuating its own twisted view of the world.

At the novel’s conclusion, Violet is almost killed by a literal poison that targets her mind and her magic. Her own skill as a poisoner is therefore juxtaposed with Brennan’s as he is revealed to be her savior, having rescued her from death. Thematically, poison itself symbolizes The Value of Knowledge, for whether a character employs it or neutralizes it, specialized knowledge is necessary to complete these goals. The fact that Violet almost dies of poison, however, reinforces the idea that while knowledge can be a weapon, it cannot always be a shield. Having information does not make a person immune to injury or consequences regardless of how much that person is empowered.

The attendees of the war college live permanently on the edge of death, existing under threat of dragons, war, and their own classmates. This makes mortality a constant concern of the novel, and the text is littered with discussions of mortality, survival, and the rituals surrounding death. Each morning, the students must listen to a roll call of those who died the day before, and therefore, thoughts of death herald each new day. This prominence leads to a certain amount of nihilism from Violet that persists until she defies all odds and survives.

It is important to note that the death rituals of Navarre include a ceremonial burning of a person’s belongings. This is supposed to include everything they owned, making it a near-complete erasure of the physical impact a person has on the world. This adds to the idea that all the characters have a lack of permanence; the burning therefore symbolizes a second death. Unburned items become precious, if illicit, commodities, as exemplified by the Book of Brennan.

Within the Rider Quadrant, cadets may challenge each other to formal fights, and the victor is gifted a dagger that represents their physical success. To earn daggers is a sign of physical ability and internal viciousness; the more daggers a person has, the more skilled they are assumed to be. This ideal becomes integral to the characters’ ongoing drive to survive their harsh environment, though it is clear that the daggers represent something different to the general college populace than they do to Violet. To most cadets, daggers symbolize strength; most challenges are won by being a superior fighter, and before Violet arrives on the scene, the most superior fighters are also those with the clearest, most traditional physical strengths. To Violet, the daggers symbolize survival. Her challengers are often people who want to kill her for her physical weaknesses, and her ability to outsmart them keeps her alive. Each dagger thus becomes a mark of her use of Psychological Strength as a Survival Trait, for her own intelligence and growing capabilities make the reward of the daggers much more meaningful for her than for her peers.

Daggers also bookend Violet’s journey as a rider. In the first chapter, she admits to Mira that she is not strong enough to carry a sword but knows how to use daggers. She uses a dagger to hold Jack at bay on the parapet, ensuring her own survival while she also refuses to hurt him. Enchanted daggers are also the one physical weapon that can hurt venin, and Violet ultimately uses one to kill a venin who threatens her and Tairn. Her mastery over these weapons showcases her mastery over being a dragon rider, an indication not only of her ability to survive but also of her newfound identity.