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43. Emoni’s “No Use Crying Over Spilled Strawberry Milk” Recipe
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
Emoni spends the week doing homework in the library during Culinary Arts and refusing to answer Malachi’s questions. She knows she’s going to fail, and that Ms. Fuentes is going to find out, but she can’t bring herself to formally drop the class. On Friday night, Malachi and Pretty Leslie walk into the Burger Joint, and Pretty Leslie smiles wide. She greets Emoni in a fake voice and orders a burger with complicated substitutions, and she then says Emoni must be thrilled to work here and get to learn so much about food. Emoni uses the same voice and script she uses for every customer, even as she takes Malachi’s order. As they walk away, Steve tells Emoni to stop “fraternizing” with her friends.
This week, Emoni experiments with essentially getting a study hall instead of another class during the Culinary Arts period. When Malachi and Pretty Leslie come to the Burger Joint, it’s again obvious that Pretty Leslie is trying to insult and make things difficult for Emoni—it’s clear to Leslie and Emoni that working fast-food isn’t actually teaching Emoni much about food. If Emoni wants to learn, she’ll have to return to Chef Ayden’s class.
Themes
