These traits of fire represent her father’s drinking problem and its effect on her life. For example, a mirage at the top of the fire “where the snapping yellow flames [dissolve] into a shimmery heat” (61) is “a place where no rules apply.” Similarly, her dad does not follow any rules when alcohol consumes him. He is no more than heat, drying out his family’s money and patience. One example of him breaking the values of his family is on Christmas. It was supposed to be the best Christmas of Jeannette’s life, a holiday her family usually doesn’t celebrate, but her “Dad thrust [his] lighter into the Douglas fir” (115) causing “the dried- out needles [to catch] fire immediately. “Fire leaped through the branches with a crackling noise. Christmas ornaments exploded from the heat.” The fire here becomes one with her dad as he, through fire, destroys the dream of a regular Christmas for his family, and the hope of stability that came along with
These traits of fire represent her father’s drinking problem and its effect on her life. For example, a mirage at the top of the fire “where the snapping yellow flames [dissolve] into a shimmery heat” (61) is “a place where no rules apply.” Similarly, her dad does not follow any rules when alcohol consumes him. He is no more than heat, drying out his family’s money and patience. One example of him breaking the values of his family is on Christmas. It was supposed to be the best Christmas of Jeannette’s life, a holiday her family usually doesn’t celebrate, but her “Dad thrust [his] lighter into the Douglas fir” (115) causing “the dried- out needles [to catch] fire immediately. “Fire leaped through the branches with a crackling noise. Christmas ornaments exploded from the heat.” The fire here becomes one with her dad as he, through fire, destroys the dream of a regular Christmas for his family, and the hope of stability that came along with