Walls utilizes many literary devices throughout her book in order to convey her theme, one of the most prominent being symbolism. An apparent symbol continually referenced in the memoir is fire. Jeannette is fixated on fire at a young age, and struggles with its uncontrollable nature her entire life. After the hotel the Walls family stays at is engulfed by flames, Jeannette realizes she “...live[s] in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire” (Walls 34). The quote demonstrates that she fully comprehends the wild characteristics of fire, and how it connects to her life of uncertainty. She also realizes that fire represents a continuous trend of chaos in her life. Another symbol in the novel is the nickname Rex Walls frequently uses for
