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
The bartender is lighting a green drink on fire as Emoni and Malachi walk in. They see Richard and Amanda at the bar but take a small table together by the back. Touching Emoni’s leg, Malachi says that he likes everything about her. Emoni apologizes for being mean at first, but she explains that when she was pregnant (and after), boys treated her like a “ho,” like she’d obviously have sex with them. Emoni says she’s not having sex with Malachi. Rather than huff or try to pressure Emoni, Malachi makes Emoni look at him and says that he’d happily beat up those guys. He just wants to talk to her, and he always has, because she makes his day better.
Finally, Emoni reveals one of the other unfortunate issues that cropped up since becoming a teen mom: guys think she’s sexually promiscuous, when really, that’s not at all the case. Because of this, Emoni feels even more pressure to protect herself and ward off unwanted (and possibly even wanted) sexual advances. Malachi makes it clear, though, that he’s not like those guys who just want sex. He likes Emoni for who she is, and whether or not they have sex doesn’t change that.
Themes
