Chain of Gold

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2020

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-4

Part 1, Chapters 5-8

Part 1, Chapters 9-12

Part 2, Chapters 13-16

Part 2, Chapters 17-20

Part 2, Chapter 21-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Themes

Storytelling and Reality

Characters in Chain of Gold frequently reference stories and books; most commonly the literary staples a well-read person in Edwardian London would know, such as Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and Oscar Wilde. Whether fairy tales or romances or literary novels, stories are integral to the Shadowhunter reality. For Cordelia, whose mother is Persian, these stories include the legend of Layla and Majnun and the poems of 12th-century writer Nizami Ganjavi. Stories allow Shadowhunters to experience and even create reality. In the positive sense, creating a new reality means challenging stereotypes and presumptions, such as when Lucie reinvents Snow White in her own image, or when Cordelia uses the Persian tale of Dawud to assert her own identity. However, the more ambiguous aspect of storytelling lies in stories’ deviation from the emotional truth. The distinction between emotional and factual truth is important, as Cordelia asserts that fiction can be true in “soul” if not in fact; such stories can be realer than real.

Even fantastical stories are authentic if they are honest. Conversely, stories that are absolutely factual can be dishonest if their depiction is one-sided. On one level, Lucie, the young writer, is Clare’s gentle sendup of the persona of a writer. (Lucie’s romance—The Beautiful Cordelia—the chapters of which she mails regularly to Cordelia, is inspired by a story Clare wrote at a young age called The Beautiful Cassandra. It was also an extremely long and convoluted book that she would distribute to her friends.) Lucie’s creating a fantastical world, much like Clare herself. The distinction between the two authors is that Lucie wants to control the flow of human experience in her world, while Clare embraces it. Thus, Chain of Gold raises important points about identity politics, gender stereotypes, majoritarian culture, among others. The narrative is not gratuitous, but neither does it shy away from violence and tragedy. Barbara Lightwood, a sympathetic figure, dies, as does her fiancé, Oliver Hayworth.

Lucie’s fantasies lack emotional truth because they purge the tragedy from human experience. Lucie’s proclivity for such control becomes even more ambiguous with her tendency to apply it to real life. Unable to accept the passing of Jesse, Lucie now hopes to restore him back to life, as she tells Grace at the end of the book. By writing and reading what is emotionally true, people learn to appreciate reality in all its manifestations—while dwelling mostly in doctored narratives can lead to a skewed experience of reality.

Loyalty and Community

To understand the importance of communities in Shadowhunter society, one must examine the smallest communal unit: parabatai. Before they reach the age of 18, a Shadowhunter needs to find a parabatai. At the age of 19, a parabatai pair undergoes three trials to test their loyalty to each other, after which they swear an oath, before the Clave’s Council, to fight alongside one another for the rest of their lives. Moreover, parabatai swear to travel together and share a burial ground. The spiritual bond between parabatai is deep and unquantifiable. In Chain of Gold, James and Matthew frequently sense each other’s feelings: Matthew can tell when James slips into the underworld, and though Matthew keeps a massive secret from James, James senses its burden on Matthew. He asks Matthew to tell him “the name of the shadow that is always hanging over you. I can become a shadow. I could fight it for you” (327).

This loyalty to community units extends to other groupings. For instance, the Silent Brothers and Iron Sisters are respectively a tightknit brotherhood and sisterhood who guard their secrets fiercely. The Iron Sisters are described as “even more secretive than the Silent Brothers […] No one not of their sisterhood was allowed in the Adamant Citadel” (235). Here, the loyalty of the monks and nuns is as much to their vows as it is to a community. Whether it be the parabatai vow or the oaths that Silent Brothers and Iron Sisters take, promises are vital in the Shadowhunter world. Engagements are very serious and are broken only in extreme circumstances. Cordelia is therefore shocked when Charles breaks off his engagement to Ariadne Bridgestock. The larger Shadowhunter society form a tight-knit group; since they keep their presence hidden from regular humans, they are bound by secrecy and by their common mandate of fighting demons.

However, the text’s overarching theme of loyalty suggests that affiliations find meaning only in heartfelt choice; loyalty that is coerced or dishonest is not loyalty at all. Grace and James’s relationship exemplifies this dynamic. James feels he must be loyal to Grace because he is a Herondale, who are legendary for loving and marrying only once in their lives. Herondales are also known for keeping their promises. In his most honest moments, James knows his love for Grace is far from happy, yet he persists with the idea of love because he feels duty-bound to Grace. Such a sense of duty is not true loyalty, as it arises from empty compulsion. The text also scrutinizes loyalty based merely in blood ties. Belial expects James to do his bidding because James is his heir, but in the end, James stands by his friends and his own values. For much of the book, James is obsessed with uncovering his grandfather’s identity, feeling that it holds clues about James’s own identity. James makes the classic mistake of assuming inheritance is fate. Instead of learning how to harness his gift, he worries about its source and what that says about him. It is only when he confronts Belial that James understands the futility of his search; he has always been defined by his choices and his willing loyalties.

Identity, Prejudice, and Presumption

A diverse cast of characters is a hallmark of Clare’s novels. Clare uses diversity in her fantastical universe to mirror important issues around identity and cultural relations in the real world. Characters who do not fit into the mainstream make others question their own prejudices. For instance, Cordelia challenges Anna’s assumption that all Persians are dark-haired, and Malcolm Fade raises the issue of why Downworlders are considered cliquish when Shadowhunter society itself is one large clique. While some characters may assume that there is a singular, normative Shadowhunter identity, the truth is that there is no such thing.

Anna, a lesbian who is open about her sexuality, is as much part of the Shadowhunter world as are different-sex couples like Will and Tessa. While Anna is open about her choices, the narrative concedes that this is possible partly because of her supportive family and her cultural and financial privilege. Someone like Alastair, a gay man of Persian heritage living in a white society, cannot enjoy the same freedoms. Charles has political ambitions and, to protect his career, chooses not to come out. The text does not judge characters for their choices; it places the choices in context, forcing readers to consider their own assumptions about the world around them.

Key themes of identity and prejudice draw attention to the hierarchy that is the biggest weakness of Shadowhunter society. Cordelia, Anna, and Matthew assume that they—the Shadowhunters—are at the center of the supernatural realm, but this notion is challenged during their visit to Hell Ruelle, when High Warlock Malcom Fade drily remarks that he ensures only a few Nephilim are allowed in the salon at a time since he prefers “Nephilim to feel outnumbered among Downworlders, as it is so often the other way around” (217). Seen through Fade’s eyes, the Nephilim are the brute mainstream who, unconsciously or otherwise, ignore minority culture. Fade’s remark is a trenchant comment on race-relations in the real world, where a majority culture assumes that their way is normative.

However, not only the Nephilim have prejudices. The Downworlders, too, can be irrational in their summation of Shadowhunters. Fade initially refuses to help the Shadowhunters because his heart was broken by one. Hypatia Vex dismisses Matthew as “amusing,” while Fade insists that “our kind and yours are best apart” (235). It surfaces, though, that the threat to the Downworlders is not the Shadowhunters, but one among their very own: Arabella the mermaid. Cordelia, a Shadowhunter, saves them from Arabella’s poison. Similarly, the greatest danger to Shadowhunters is always from within their fold, whether through Benedict Lightwood or Tatiana Blackthorn. By the end of the chapter, the Downworlders pledge to help Cordelia’s group, and this transition shows that the best way to overcome prejudice is through colliding worlds. The way forward involves challenging societal hierarchies. Figures like Anna and Cordelia, who play with rules and norms, provide the hope of a more inclusive world.