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 wanted to give Babygirl “a nice name,” a name that doesn’t expose too much about her the way Emoni’s does. People judge Emoni the moment they see her name on paper, and Emoni didn’t want that for her daughter. That’s why she fought Tyrone, Babygirl’s dad, so hard to name her Emma. As they fought over the name, Emoni realized she’d do anything to give Babygirl the best opportunities. Fortunately, Tyrone was late to the appointment to fill out the birth certificate, so Emoni got her way. A name doesn’t guarantee anything, but Emoni hopes it’ll give Emma the chance to prove herself.
Emoni doesn’t specify what she means about her name exposing too much about her, but Emoni is a variant on Imani, a Swahili name—in other words, it highlights Emoni’s ethnicity in a way that she believes causes people to judge her. So, though Emoni later describes how proud she is to be Black, she also shows here that it’s hard work to balance her pride with the reality that people judge her on paper. Emma, she hopes, won’t experience this, as her name is a more traditionally “white” name.
Themes
