Amari And The Great Game

Amari and the Great Game offers insight into Amari’s emotional journey through first-person narration and themes that revolve around identity and growth. Amari, the protagonist, is marginalized in the “real” world as a young Black girl and in the supernatural world as a magician. As a result, she faces prejudice from her peers as well as from authority figures like Harlowe and Bane. This discriminatory treatment significantly impacts Amari’s self-perception, and her coming-of-age process involves building a sense of self in defiance of the stereotypes that others thrust upon her. Her character arc demonstrates how individuals can build their identity by overcoming adversity.

In the supernatural world, Amari is part of the “UnWanteds,” a term that describes individuals stereotyped as dangerous or evil. Amari explains how the UnWanteds of her generation are held responsible for the actions of individuals who lived centuries in the past: “[I]t’s the UnWanteds’ descendants being punished now, and they didn’t choose to be UnWanteds any more than I chose to be a magician. Yet we’re considered illegal simply for existing” (52). Amari’s statement points to the injustice of a legal designation that punishes people not for their actions but for their identity.