Themes in The Night Circus- The Competition

          The Competition between the two young magicians, Celia and Marco, is one of the most intriguing and peculiar things about The Night Circus.  The author slowly reveals the conditions for the game throughout the book; making the competition somewhat of a mystery.  Instead of being just a competition of magical ability, it turns into something much deeper.

          Page 420 says,"The one who survives is the victor," she says. "The winner lives, the loser dies.  That's how the game ends."
          "That--" Marco stops, shaking his head. "That cannot be the intent of this."
          "It is," Celia says. "It is a test of endurance, not skill. I'm attempting to make the circus self-sufficient before..."
          "Your going to do what your father did," Marco says. "Your going to take yourself off the board."
          "Not precisely," she says. "I suppose I was always more my mother's daughter."
          "No," Marco says. "You cannot mean that."
          "It's the only way to stop the game."
          "Then we'll continue playing."
          "I can't," she says. "I can't keep holding on. Every night it becomes more difficult. And I...I have to let you win."

         The Night Circus Competition becomes more than just a test of knowledge and ability.  It truly takes the characters into a whirlwind of emotion and struggle as they handle the pressures of surviving the competition. That is what makes the Night Circus such an emotional roller coaster for the reader too.

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