Defiant culture prizes heroism and condemns anything that appears to be cowardice, and the culture largely equates heroism itself with defiance. Defiance and obedience are therefore diametric motifs in the text. One of the original ships that crashed on Detritus was called the Defiant, and the surviving humans have since made this concept a central part of their culture. Given the near-constant attacks from the Krell, the humans use the concept of defiance to cling to their own survival and resist the efforts of their oppressors.

Spensa lives by this motto, but she learns that real defiance is not as prized as her leaders claim it to be, for Admiral Ironsides and her cronies are far more interested in forcing Spensa to obey their unfair judgments than in celebrating her innate defiance. Ironically, Spensa remains true to her culture’s deepest values by actively defying her leaders’ overt wishes. When Ironsides denies Spensa food or a bunk at the base, Spensa decides, “I didn’t need their charity. I was a Defiant” (105). Ironsides, however, would have been happier if Spensa had simply acquiesced to her pressure rather than defying her. FM is one of the first of the cadets to articulate what most of the cadets have noticed: the discrepancy between their culture’s values and what their leaders desire.