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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 stops herself from pushing past Mrs. Palmer to unbuckle Babygirl herself. Though Emoni doesn’t like Mrs. Palmer—she’s unpleasant and acts like she’s better than everyone—the gentle way the woman hands Babygirl over makes Emoni almost like her. Emoni politely apologizes and thanks Mrs. Palmer. In response, Mrs. Palmer says that she can’t step up every time Emoni and ’Buela are “too negligent to take care of Emma,” and she’d fully support Tyrone if he ever decides to take Emoni to court for custody.
At first, it seems like this might be an alright interaction with Mrs. Palmer for once. However, Mrs. Palmer reveals her true colors when she accuses both Emoni and ’Buela of being “negligent” when it comes to Babygirl. Note, though, that Mrs. Palmer seems not to find Tyrone at all negligent, though he’s also Babygirl’s parent and didn’t even pick Babygirl up from daycare.
Themes
Emoni immediately stops smiling and addresses Babygirl. Mrs. Palmer cuts Emoni off and insists that she’ll confuse Emma by not using her real name, but Emoni ignores her now. As Emoni turns away, Mrs. Palmer holds out a paper bag with Children’s Tylenol in it, since Emoni probably didn’t have any and it’s good to have extra if she does. Emoni accepts the bag as Mrs. Palmer tells her to be more responsible with her phone. Mrs. Palmer drives away before Emoni can thank her and say she has Children’s Tylenol. There’s no time to ask why Tyrone didn’t pick up Babygirl, and why she’s in trouble for being irresponsible when Tyrone only has to do the bare minimum.
Everything Mrs. Palmer says seems designed to be invalidating and cruel to Emoni. Obviously, Mrs. Palmer implies, a mom as (supposedly) irresponsible as Emoni wouldn’t have Children’s Tylenol on hand—but on the off chance Emoni does, then Mrs. Palmer is just doing a nice, grandmotherly thing by buying more. Emoni may have made a mistake with her phone, but she’s also far more responsible than Mrs. Palmer gives her credit for. And Emoni also recognizes that Mrs. Palmer is unfairly punishing her—after all, as Emoni notes, Tyrone didn’t pick up Babygirl and administer the Tylenol, and he’s Babygirl’s dad.
Themes
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