While Witchlings is a fantasy story filled with magic and monsters, the text also functions as a critique of society’s systems of exclusion and disenfranchisement. The protagonist fights against discrimination against Spares as much as she struggles to find the Nightbeast. Seven and Poppy’s strained friendship offers a small-scale example of how the exclusive coven system destroys relationships and generates inequality in the Twelve Towns. The main character being snubbed by a former friend presents the theme in a way that is more accessible to Ortega’s middle grade audience, compared to the novel’s examination of the political processes around disenfranchisement. In Chapter 14, Poppy attempts to justify the fact that she has ignored her former best friend for nearly two weeks: “I just feel weird around you and I don’t know why” (158). Because it’s uncomfortable for Poppy to confront her privilege, she would rather let their friendship die. Seven feels incapable of bridging the gap between them: “[T]hey weren’t just on different paths: They were in two separate worlds” (159). The deterioration of Seven and Poppy’s friendship demonstrates how systems of exclusion damage relationships.

Exclusion and disenfranchisement are deeply rooted in the Twelve Town’s laws and social structure.