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Chapter 52
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Firekeeper’s Daughter, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Justice
Generational Trauma and Bigotry
Ceremony, Pride, and Healing
Love, Honesty, and Respect
Coming of Age
Family and Community
Summary
Analysis
Daunis is on a large rock in the woods. It’s rained recently, and there are fires lit to her east and south. There are no fires yet to the north or west. Pansies sing to Daunis, and the world is beautiful. A drum joins in as the pansies start to dance. The flowers morph into dancing women—and then suddenly, Lily is behind Daunis. Lily is “more” now than she was in life. Everything begins to spin around Lily and Daunis as Lily puts a lei of pansies around Daunis’s neck. Lily kisses Daunis’s cheek and everything fades.
It’s implied that Daunis wakes up in the afterlife; recall that she explained during Lily’s funeral that there are ceremonial fires lit daily in the next world for the recently deceased. Reuniting with Lily reinforces that this is the next world, and it seems cathartic for both Daunis and Lily to be reunited for this short moment. Lily gets to send Daunis off with her blessing and love—and Daunis gets proof that her best friend is doing okay.
Themes
