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Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Kidnapped, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Political Conflict and National Identity
Trust and Betrayal
Justice vs. Injustice
Coming of Age
Summary
Analysis
A fight begins when Hoseason appears at the door and finds Alan waiting, sword drawn. Alan warns him to attack if he dares. Hoseason leaves, and Alan prepares for battle while David climbs to the window with loaded pistols. The first attack comes quickly—Alan kills Shuan, while David fires at the men trying to break through the round-house door. He wounds at least one, and the rest flee. After a brief pause, the attackers return. One crashes through the skylight, and David shoots him, then another. Alan fights off several at the door, and David joins in with a cutlass.
The round-house battle functions as a critical test of courage and loyalty, solidifying David and Alan’s bond under extreme pressure. The fight forces David into direct violence for the first time, pushing him past moral hesitation into survival mode. His willingness to defend the round-house—first from a distance, then hand-to-hand—signals a decisive break from the passive, uncertain boy he was at the start of the novel.
Themes
Eventually, David and Alan drive the crew below deck. With the round-house cleared, Alan praises David and sings a victory song. David, overwhelmed by what he has done, breaks down and cries. They take turns keeping watch through the night, guarding the door with pistol and sword. By morning, the sea is calm, and the Covenant has drifted near the coast.
David’s emotional collapse after the fighting ends confirms that the experience has left a lasting mark. Alan’s song and praise contrast sharply with David’s tears, drawing attention to their different relationships to violence. Alan, a seasoned fighter and political exile, treats battle as an honorable way to assert his identity. David, by contrast, feels the weight of what he has done.
Themes
