Little Fires Everywhere

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-12

Chapters 13-16

Chapters 17-20

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Themes

The Right to Motherhood

There are several crucial relationships between mothers and daughters in the novel that showcase different ways of mothering. While Mia and Pearl are bonded by their transient lifestyle (to the point where Pearl’s character arc in the novel is been to individuate), other mother-daughter pairs have more strained relationships. For instance, Mrs. Richardson’s antagonistic relationship with Izzy comes from her projections of fear of chaos and disorder, which her daughter has represented to her since her unsteady premature birth.

These different relationships between mother and daughter influence each character’s sentiments about the right to motherhood that is at the center of the Mirabelle/May Ling custody case. While Mia actively intervenes on behalf of Bebe, Mrs. Richardson takes the side of the McCulloughs, who adopted Mirabelle/May Ling. Mia’s sympathy for Bebe comes from an understanding of the difficult decisions one has to make as a new mother with little means. She feels Bebe is the rightful mother, as she gave birth to her own child and had a momentary setback due to circumstances beyond her control. However, Mrs. Richardson has a more simplified outlook in which she believes that the differences between the McCulloughs and Bebe are that “[o]ne followed the rules, and one had not” (269). According to Mrs. Richardson, Bebe did not follow the rules when she abandoned her child the first time. However, her perspective does not have the same social flexibility that Mia’s view permits.

The right to motherhood is not a resolved issue by the end of the novel. While Pearl actively chooses Mia as her rightful mother upon learning of her origins, Mrs. Richardson experiences a rupture in her own relationship with her daughter when Izzy runs away from home. At the same time, Bebe steals back her daughter from the McCulloughs, and the saddened couple decide to adopt a child from China another year. In the novel, the right to motherhood is inscribed by different social rules and orders as well as people who constantly violate those scripts.

The Power of Art as Social Intervention

The novel’s depiction of the power of art as social intervention begins with Mia’s arrival at Shaker Heights. Her unique artistic sensibilities unnerve people like Mrs. Richardson, who does not understand the experimental qualities of her tenant’s art. However, Mia’s art also inspires and moves people around her to take social action. In one of her suggestions to Izzy, Mia offers the starting idea for a prank that will allow Izzy to settle a score with Mrs. Peters, a racist teacher. Izzy modifies the prank with her own original take, using toothpicks to jam the locks of the school instead of glue as Mia suggests. This creative alteration of Mia’s idea is the beginning of Izzy’s artistic protest against social injustice.

At the end of the novel, Izzy does not need to rely on Mia for creative direction on her plan to set her family house on fire. After apprenticing for Mia, Izzy has adapted the artist’s resourcefulness and knowledge of everyday objects that can be repurposed for artistic means. With this newfound skill, Izzy determines that the message she needs to send to her family is one that will uproot them physically after seeing how they prized their socially normative life over Mia’s and Pearl’s well-being. She finds gas cans and matches and deliberately pours the gas on each of her sibling’s beds in neat circles. She approaches this project with a design eye, as if she is pursuing a work of art. In setting the house on fire, she makes an artistic statement about the ways in which social order can always be disrupted in small ways (with matches) and still have life-altering results.

The Ramifications of White Liberalism

While the setting of Shaker Heights hints at the predominance of white upper-middle-class values, the growing controversy over the Mirabelle/May Ling custody case reveals the dangers of the white liberal sentiment that colors the town. Prior to the custody trial, the white residents of Shaker Heights consider themselves racially tolerant. For instance, Lexie states flippantly that when it comes to having a black boyfriend, “‘no one gives a crap that I’m white and he’s black’” (42). She proceeds to explain that skin color does not matter. In a town like Shaker Heights, where everyone lives comfortably, racism does not appear to be an outstanding issue. However, the custody trial reveals how white liberal sensibilities can also mask racial tensions that have always existed.

One of the more insidious qualities of white liberalism that emerges during the custody hearing is the lack of empathy afforded to Bebe, a poor Chinese mother, and the public sympathy for the McCulloughs, who have greater race and class access than the former. As white liberalism purports that everyone is equal, it does not account for different distribution of resources and privileges. The disproportionate treatment of Bebe is not apparent to public supporters of the McCulloughs, who believe simply that Bebe violated the law and loses her parental rights without any regard for the nuances of her circumstances.