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79. Holidays
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
On the first day back at school after the break, Chef Ayden hands out the final itinerary for the Spain trip. So, at the Burger Joint later, Emoni knocks on Steve’s office door. He’s perusing social media on the computer, but he tells Emoni that she’d better not be here about a schedule change. She starts to say that she needs a favor, but he cuts her off and lists all the scheduling conflicts he needs to work around for her. He snaps that she always makes excuses, and this isn’t “an extracurricular program for struggling moms.” Knowing he likes to be flattered, Emoni says she appreciates how hard he works to help student employees. He asks what she wants.
Steve reads as a wholly unsupportive and hypocritical employer. He doesn’t have to work hard while at work, but he finds it wildly offensive that Emoni does anything other than accept her assigned shifts with a thank you. Indeed, his comment about how the Burger Joint isn’t “an extracurricular program for struggling moms” suggests that he may see Emoni as a teen mom—and a problem—first and foremost, and perhaps not a person with a life of her own at all.
Themes
Emoni tells him about the class trip to Spain and offers to work extra days to make up for the days off. Steve says this sounds like a vacation, and Emoni has already taken too many vacation days over the holidays. He suggests that since Emoni is a senior and won’t be here next year anyway, they look at “other options.” Emoni asks if he’s firing her for asking for time off. He denies it, but Emoni has seen him do this before: he cuts people’s hours until it costs more to get to work than they earn. Steve says he’ll hire new people to cover Emoni’s shifts. Leaning over his desk, Emoni says Steve is a kind man and she’ll tell ’Buela to pray for him. Hopefully he realizes how spiteful ’Buela is.
Emoni might be considering skipping college, but this doesn’t mean she devalues education altogether. Steve, on the other hand, seems to devalue any educational experiences that might also be fun (at least if those experiences are inconvenient for him). Emoni, it’s worth noting, is also doing the responsible thing by asking for the time off months in advance. Now, though, she has to accept that Steve has never been supportive—and at this point, likely never will be.
Themes
