Little Fires Everywhere Literary Elements

Literary fiction, realist

Shaker Heights, Ohio, the 1990s

Omniscient third-person narrator. Multiple character perspectives.

Serious, thought-provoking, morally complex

Elena Richardson and Mia Warren are the protagonists. They become each other’s antagonists.

Tensions arise between Elena Richardson and Mia Warren due to their opposing approaches to life and motherhood. Their rivalry becomes a feud when they take opposing sides over the adoption of a Chinese baby.

Elena discovers that, years earlier, Mia agreed to be a surrogate for a wealthy couple. Once she had the baby (Pearl), Mia ran away with her.

The novel begins by describing the fire at the Richardsons’ home. This image foreshadows everything that follows as the events leading up to the fire are revealed.

“Her mother would be mortified.”

This understatement describes how Elena would react if she discovered that Lexie was pregnant.

The novel is set in the 1990s and includes many cultural allusions to events taking place at the time. References include the Clinton-Lewinsky sex scandal and ‘The Jerry Springer Show.’

Significantly, the nineties was a period when issues surrounding adoption came to public attention. Transracial adoption became much more common as China allowed people from overseas to adopt children from their orphanages for the first time. Meanwhile, a controversial custody battle, known as the Baby Jessica case, made the news. In 1991, Jan and Roberta DeBoer became the guardians of a one-week-old baby, whom they named Jessica. A few days later, the child’s biological mother, Cara Clausen, changed her mind and declared she wanted to cancel the adoption. The custody battle lasted for two and a half years. In the end, the Supreme Court ruled that the baby should be returned to her biological parents.

Fire is the central image of the novel. It is mentioned in both the title and in Ng’s dedication. The story also begins with the image of the Richardsons’ house burning down.

When trying to put out the fire, firefighters realize that the blaze has been started deliberately as it has “multiple points of origin.” The narrative goes back in time to trace the metaphorical ‘little fires’ that led to this act of arson.

The first fires are sparked by the arrival of Mia and Pearl in Shaker Heights. Totally unlike the rest of the community’s residents, the mother and daughter provoke strong feelings within the Richardson household. Further fires are lit when both families become embroiled in the custody battle between Bebe Chow and the McCulloughs.

Throughout the novel, Ng uses fire metaphors and similes to describe the characters’ emotions. For example, when Mia discloses May Ling’s whereabouts to Bebe, “a hot smell pricked her nostrils, like the first wisp of smoke from a far-off blaze.”

“Izzy had the heart of a radical, but she had the experience of a fourteen-year-old living in the suburban Midwest.” Chapter 7

The author draws a parallel between Elena and Mia and their daughters, Pearl and Izzy. Both women feel they are losing their daughter to the other family. Pearl becomes fixated by the Richardsons and aspires to become a journalist, like Elena. Meanwhile, Izzy is increasingly drawn to Mia, who shares her artistic temperament. The harder the women try to reclaim their daughters, the more Pearl and Izzy pull away from them.

“Come on, Pearl … We’re going to the mall.” Chapter 5

When Lexie refers to “the mall”, she means the high-end mall, Beachwood Place. The reference exposes Lexie’s privileged background, as it would not occur to her to shop anywhere else. Unbeknown to Lexie, Beachwood Place is known as “Bleach-White-Place” because members of the black community are rarely seen there.

“It was as if the bed had drawn a deep breath and then gracefully flattened itself into the grass.” Chapter 2