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22. The Read
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
During Emoni’s shift at the Burger Joint that evening, a woman asks Emoni what burger she’d recommend. Steve, Emoni’s manager, appears out of nowhere to say the Joint Special is the best. Emoni tries to keep a straight face: she detests Steve, and that burger is disgusting. The woman nods but asks Emoni again for her recommendation. Trying to smile, Emoni says the milkshakes are good—they’re made of real ice cream—and the number six is “popular.” At this, the woman leaves the restaurant. Emoni takes the next customer’s order. As she turns around to prep it, Steve berates her for causing the restaurant to lose business. He asks what her favorite sandwich off the menu is. They’re all gross, so Emoni reiterates that the number six is popular. Steve tells Emoni to figure out how to be a “team player” or find a different team.
The way Emoni describes the food at the Burger Joint and the way the restaurant is set up suggests that the restaurant is an independent fast-food restaurant. It’s not fine dining, which is where Emoni would like to focus her efforts—which is also why Emoni takes such offense to the “disgusting” burger and the other bad food. She knows food can be better than this, so it goes against everything she holds dear to make herself say something nice about the food. This does highlight one of Emoni’s big problems, though: she’s principled, and this sometimes mean she struggles to get along with others who think differently.
Themes
