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116. Prom
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in With the Fire on High, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Coming of Age and Teen Parenthood
Creativity vs. Professional Norms
Food and Connection
Caregiving, Independence, and Identity
Support, Community, and Mentorship
Summary
Analysis
It’s midnight the night before graduation, and Emoni can’t sleep. She turned 18 a week ago—she’s officially an adult. But all she wants to do is snuggle in ’Buela’s lap and let someone else make decisions for her. After touching Babygirl’s cheek, Emoni heads downstairs to make beer bread. Emoni knows her mom used to love to bake, but Aunt Sarah has never sent any of her mom’s recipes. Soon, Emoni needs to tell ’Buela about her decision. She also needs to tell Tyrone that she’s okay with his proposed custody agreement.
Tipping over the ledge into adulthood, Emoni finds, doesn’t feel particularly climactic. Instead, it makes her feel even more unmoored, even as parts of her life after high school are starting to fall into place. Deciding to accept Tyrone’s new custody agreement shows that Emoni is choosing to see him as an ally. His money and time will help her care for Babygirl, but they’ll also help her attend college and focus on herself.
Themes
With 20 minutes to go on the bread, there’s a knock on the door. It’s Julio. Emoni asks what he’s doing, and he asks if Emoni really thought he’d miss her graduation. Emoni did, but she says nothing. Julio drags an unusually large suitcase into the living room, and Emoni invites him to sit and have some bread when it’s done. He declines and says he never eats Emoni’s cooking because it reminds him of Emoni’s mom, and the memories are too painful. Emoni is shocked.
Though it hasn’t come up before, it seems like it’s been a point of contention that Julio doesn’t eat Emoni’s cooking. It seems likely this has contributed to their fraught relationship. But now, he’s willing to be open with her and level with her like an adult—and this turns him into a more sympathetic figure. Her cooking has the exact same effect on him as it does on everyone else, but in his case, this is just painful and something he’d like to avoid.
Themes
After collecting herself, Emoni says Julio has abandoned her many times. Why hasn’t she ever been enough to make him stay? Julio insists that he tried, but ’Buela was doing great, and he missed Puerto Rico too much. He agrees that there would’ve been happy memories had he stayed, but he’d like to keep trying. In fact, he’d like to stay for a while to help with Emma and money as Emoni starts college. Emoni wonders if this will have to be enough as she cuts herself a slice of bread and eats it. Julio breaks off a corner and, to her surprise, puts it in his mouth.
Suddenly, it seems like everyone in Emoni’s life is stepping up to help her as she starts college—and this will also give ’Buela a much-needed break from caregiving duties. When Julio samples a corner of Emoni’s bread, it’s a huge peace offering. Through this action, he’s saying that he’s ready to connect honestly with her and to try to support her like he hasn’t been able to before.
Themes
