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Part 3, Chapter 15: Smitten
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in From the Ashes, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Homelessness and Identity
Overcoming Past Trauma
Love and Redemption
Loyalty vs. Self-Preservation
Summary
Analysis
One of Jesse’s friends at the shelter is an older Somalian man who jokingly claims to have been the king of Somalia. He tells wistful stories of herding cattle and watching the sunset back home before he ended up in Canada and became an alcoholic. The man recognizes Jesse’s hardened street skills from the fact that he always sleeps with his shoes on.
The Somalian man’s displacement from his homeland seems to echo Jesse’s maternal grandparents’ sadness at seeing their people scattered and their land destroyed.
Active
Themes
