Like a House on Fire

by

Cate Kennedy

Evie Character Analysis

Four-year-old Evie is the narrator’s youngest child and only daughter. She is still enchanted by the magic of the Christmas season and can’t wait to decorate the tree, prepare the nativity scene, or toast marshmallows with her brothers. When the narrator drops and breaks the box of decorations, Evie improvises by creating a nativity scene with all her plastic toys—“Christmas designed by Disney and Mattel.”
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Evie Character Timeline in Like a House on Fire

The timeline below shows where the character Evie appears in Like a House on Fire. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Like A House on Fire
Humiliation and Masculinity Theme Icon
...nativity scene, “only the baby Jesus […] remains miraculously unscathed.” His three children—Ben, Sam, and Evie—pay little attention to him as he walks past with the box of broken decorations. The... (full context)
Chaos vs. Order Theme Icon
...can all decorate the Christmas tree, but his oldest son, Ben, tells him that only Evie is interested. When the narrator checks with Sam (who would ordinarily be excited to decorate... (full context)
Chaos vs. Order Theme Icon
The narrator notices how disappointed Evie looks, so he once more instructs the boys to turn the TV off and help... (full context)
Humiliation and Masculinity Theme Icon
Chaos vs. Order Theme Icon
...to foot” in pain, conscious that he’s probably ruining the occasion for his three children. Evie notices that he is uncomfortable and, instead of asking him to lift her up so... (full context)
Intimacy, Communication, and Humor Theme Icon
...she was a child. She replies, laughing, “funny how everything except the Jesus broke.” Meanwhile Evie has been making her own nativity set with her numerous plastic dolls and toys—“Christmas designed... (full context)
Intimacy, Communication, and Humor Theme Icon
After seeing how Evie saved the nativity display, the narrator tells his wife not to “do the Christmas Eve... (full context)
Humiliation and Masculinity Theme Icon
Intimacy, Communication, and Humor Theme Icon
...than what she is going through. Instead of articulating this, however, he retrieves “one of Evie’s Polly Pocket dolls” from the floor. (full context)
Humiliation and Masculinity Theme Icon
Intimacy, Communication, and Humor Theme Icon
The narrator takes a photo of Evie’s nativity scene, says some encouraging words to Sam, and shares a joke with Ben, thinking... (full context)