Wall Of Fire Rising

Herbert Hoover, the thirty-first President of the United States, stated, “Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity” (www.brainyquote.com). Edwidge Danticat, a Haitian native author, often times constructs literature based on her time in Haiti. Danitcat was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and relocated to Brooklyn, New York with her parents. At the age of fourteen, Danticat published her first English work, which was formulated in a newspaper article. Afterwards, she began working on short stories, novels, and autobiographies. In Danticat’s short story, “A Wall of Fire Rising”, she symbolizes freedom in Little Guy’s monologue, the hot air balloon, and the death of Guy. First in Danticat’s story, “A Wall of Fire Rising”, the symbolic feature of freedom is found in Little Guy’s monologue. In the story, the family’s son is given a monologue to memorize for a school production. The role Little Guy is given is the persona of Boukman, “the hero of the play” (393). Consequently, as the story continues, the reader learns that Boukman is a slave revolutionary. This shows as an importance throughout the story because it gave Little Guy’s …show more content…
After supper and after Guy returns home from work, the family retreats to the sugar mill field. The sugar mill field is originally set as a meeting area to watch the large television screen that is designated for state-sponsored news; however, the family chooses to sit in an open area away from other city dwellers. As a result, the family is able to repeatedly set sight on the Assad family’s hot air balloon. However, Guy views the hot air balloon differently, he “[stares] at it with the same kind of longing that most men display when they admire very pretty girls” (396). Throughout the story, Guy reflects on the hot air balloon as an emotional and physical escape from their current