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95. Histories
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
After dinner, Chef Ayden reminds the students to get home to their host families quickly. Emoni and Pretty Leslie have been the only ones going home; everyone else has been out every night drinking real absinthe and dancing. Pretty Leslie gives Emoni a dirty look when she sees that Emoni is staying out with Malachi. As Malachi and Emoni walk, Emoni asks if Pretty Leslie was upset when Malachi stopped talking to her. He says he still thinks Leslie is cool, but she just says silly things when she’s trying to impress him. Emoni doesn’t pry further, but she lets Malachi take her hand. He puts their hands in his coat pocket, and Emoni is suddenly overcome with emotion. She doesn’t want this moment to end, and she doesn’t want to get hurt. Emoni stops and reaches up to kiss Malachi—just as a little boy snatches her purse.
For the most part, Emoni has spent the novel playing by the rules and trying to appease adult authority figures. Now, though, it’s a sign of how free she’s feeling that she feels okay disobeying Chef Ayden and staying out late with Malachi. She’s beginning to let go of what other people think, and instead, she’s focusing on what she wants. This is, of course, thwarted when she attempts to kiss Malachi and her purse is immediately stolen—she can’t fully escape the world’s realities. But the fact that she’s trying indicates that she’d like to figure out who she is when she’s not bogged down by other responsibilities.
Themes
