Motifs in Little Fires Everywhere

Fire 1. The Richardson’s house catches on fire

2. Elena, in her bathrobe, and her children are discussing the fire
3. The fires were intentionally set, in the middle of everyone’s bed
4. Moody thinks it might have been an accident and Lexie states that it was arson and there were
little fires everywhere
5. When Izzy asks Mia to be her assistant, Mia feels drawn to Izzy and something inside her
“catches fire”
6. Elena feels a “spark” during the antiwar rioting of 1968; Izzy will later get the same “spark”
7. Elena compares passion to fire and feels that passion is a dangerous thing
8. Elena says that Mia was “heedlessly throwing sparks” into the order of Shaker Heights
9. The more Elena finds out about Mia, the angrier she gets and her fury bursts into “flames”
10. Mia tells Izzy that Bebe has to start fresh after losing the custody battle… like a prairie fire that
scorches everything so that the earth to begin growing again
11. Mia reminds Izzy of the prairie fire because she can’t tell her goodbye
12. Izzy sets fires in the middle of her siblings’ beds after Mia is evicted by her mother

Motherhood 1. Elena appears to be the perfect mother

2. Mia is not a responsible adult or mother
3. Elena mothers Pearl
4. Mia mothers Izzy
5. Mia mothers Lexie after the abortion
6. Mrs. McCullough desperately wants to be a mother; is in the process of adopting Mirabelle
7. Lexie gets “baby fever” after spending time with Mirabelle at her first birthday party
8. Bebe Chow gave her baby (May Ling/Mirabelle) up when she couldn’t support her but now
wants her back
9. Warren and Mr. Wright are angry that Mia will not mother the baby she is carrying
10. Mia decides to keep the baby after Warren dies
11. Linda McCollough is so desperate to be a mother that when she gets Mirabelle she completely
disregards her heritage and deems Bebe as a stranger to her own child
12. Vinny in kind to Bebe because she reminds him of his sister who just had a baby
13. Bebe desperately tries to take care of May Ling and spends her last $7 on formula
14. Linda McCullough wins custody of Mirabelle
15. Bebe steals May Ling from the McCulloughs and returns to China
16. Linda McCullough will become a mother to a baby adopted from an orphanage in China
17. Elena loses Izzy and is close to losing her other children

Anger 1. Moody gets angry when Trip compliments Pearl about her clothing
2. Izzy gets angry when her orchestra teacher, Mrs. Peters, belittles Deja Johnson
3. Elena is always angry at Izzy; started when Izzy was a baby
4. Izzy is angry that her dad is representing the McCulloughs
5. Elena is angry with Mia for telling Bebe about the baby
6. The McColloughs are angry with Bebe for showing up at their house demanding to see the
baby
7. Some of the residents of Shaker Heights are angry that May Ling is being raised by a white
family
8. Elena is angry with Mia for turning Shaker Heights upside down (over the baby) and wants
revenge - not for dear friend Linda McCollough even though she tries to convince herself that’s

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 the reason
9. Pearl is angry with Lexie for using her name at the abortion clinic
10. Warren is angry with Mia for agreeing to be a surrogate
11. Mia’s parents are angry with Mia for being pregnant and agreeing to be a surrogate
12. Article in newspaper writes about Ed Lim’s “aggressive” tactics
13. Brian is angry with Lexie for not wanting to be affectionate and they break up
14. Moody is angry with Pearl for choosing Trip (to have sex with)
15. Pearl gets angry with Moody for calling her one of Trip’s “conquests”
16. Elena is angry with Betsy for not wanting to show her the clinic’s patient list
17. Elena is wrongfully angry at Pearl for getting pregnant and tells Mia they have to move out
18. Pearl is angry with her mom for having to move again
19. Izzy is angry with her mom, Moody, and Lexie over the confusion of Pearl having an abortion
20. Izzy is angry with her entire family (for different reasons) when she finds Mia and Pearl gone
21. Elena is (really, really) angry with Izzy for setting the fire

Privacy 1. Pearl finally has her own room and doesn’t have to share one with her mother
2. Mia goes through the Richardson’s trash when she’s there working
3. Pearl’s privacy at the Richardson’s house is destroyed when Mia starts to work there
4. Mia is very private and doesn’t share any details of her life (past or present)
5. Bebe invades the McCullough’s privacy when she shows up at their house uninvited
6. The reporters invade the McCullough’s privacy by camping out at their house
7. Warren respecting Mia’s privacy by not telling their parents she was pregnant
8. Elena invades Mia’s privacy by researching her background and her past
9. Elena invades Mia’s privacy by ordering a copy of Pearl’s birth certificate
10. Elena invades Mia’s privacy and the privacy of her parents when she visits them
11. Mr. Yang respects Pearl and Trip’s privacy when he sees them kissing
12. Lexie uses Pearl’s name to protect her own privacy at the abortion clinic
13. Elena invades Mia’s privacy by questioning Pearl about their lives while pretending to be
interested in Pearl
14. Elena attempts to invade Bebe’s privacy and also invade the privacy of the patients of the
clinic when she asks Betsy for recent list of abortions
15. Mia respects Lexie’s privacy and doesn’t tell Elena she had an abortion

Planning 1. Shaker Heights one of the first planned communities in the nation
2. Elena has plans for everything and has always planned out her life
3. Elena planned to have 4 children
4. Lexie plans to go to Yale to be close to Brian
5. Lexie plans to have sex with Brian at the Halloween party
6. Elena plans sex only on Wednesdays and Saturdays
7. The McCulloughs plan sex around Linda’s fertility schedule
8. Izzy plans to get revenge on Mrs. Peters by jamming toothpicks into the locks at school
9. Mirabelle’s visitation schedule is not planned which upsets Linda McCullough
10. Trip has to plan sex with Pearl because they use his friend’s house
11. Elena plans to get information about Bebe’s possible abortion
12. Izzy takes all night to plan how she will set fire to her house
13. Izzy plans to go to the Wright’s house in hopes of finding out where Mia went

Nature vs 1. Biological mom (Bebe) vs adoptive parents (McCulloughs)

Nurture 2. Mia nurtures Izzy
3. Mia and Pearl nurture Lexie after the abortion

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 4. Eleana nurtures Pearl
5. The Richardsons and Lexie are on the McCullough’s side (nurture) and Izzy is on Bebe’s side
(nature)
6. Shaker Heights is divided over who should be raising Mirabelle/May Ling - a Chinese baby
7. Serana Wong’s mom supports Bebe (nature)
8. Brian’s parents (Cliff and Clair) argue over if people should be allowed to raise children from
different races
9. Clair supports Bebe (nature)
10. Cliff supports the McCulloughs (nurture); he feels they have the means to raise a baby
11. Pauline and Mal nurture Mia while she is in college
12. Mrs. Delaney nurtures Mia after Pearl is born

Sexuality 1. Moody tells Pearl that the Shakers died out because they didn't believe in sex
2. Lexie loses her virginity the night of Stacie Perry’s Halloween party
3. Trip gets a little too touchy-feely when he pats all the pockets on Pearl’s pants
4. Lexie and Brian are having sex regularly
5. Clinton and Lewinsky scandal make Pearl feel there is “sex” everywhere
6. Pearl and Trip are having sex regularly
7. Bebe gets pregnant with May Ling
8. Pearl was conceived by Mia using a turkey baster
9. Lexie gets pregnant and has an abortion

Race 1. Pearl tells her mother that Lexie says her boyfriend, Brian, is going to be the first black
president
2. Lexie tells her siblings that no one cares that she has a black boyfriend
3. Moody tells Lexie that everyone sees race
4. Mrs. Peters belittles Deja Johnson, a shy black girl, and asks her if she needs to speak in
Ebonics
5. Shaker Heights is divided over who should be raising Mirabelle/May Ling - a Chinese baby
6. Serena Wong’s mom is upset that race is being left out on the part of the McCulloughs
7. Linda McCullough makes insensitive comments about Mirabelle’s race - says they are adding
Asian art to their home and the baby loves rice
8. Brian’s parents (Cliff and Clair) argue over if people should be allowed to raise children from
different races
9. Mrs. Richardson tells Pearl that she (her mother and the Shakers) believed in equality,
diversity, and seeing everyone as an equal
10. Ed Lim questions Linda McCullough about how she will teach the baby about her race
11. Ed Lim states that May Ling would be “divorced” from her birth culture if the McColloughs are
allowed to adopt her
12. When an article in newspaper writes about Ed Lim’s “aggressive” tactics, Mr. Richardson
recognizes the truth: that an angry Asian man did not fit the public’s expectation

Race 1. Pearl tells her mother that Lexie says her boyfriend, Brian, is going to be the first black
president
2. Lexie tells her siblings that no one cares that she has a black boyfriend
3. Moody tells Lexie that everyone sees race
4. Mrs. Peters belittles Deja Johnson, a shy black girl, and asks her if she needs to speak in
Ebonics
5. Shaker Heights is divided over who should be raising Mirabelle/May Ling - a Chinese baby
6. Serena Wong’s mom is upset that race is being left out on the part of the McCulloughs

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 7. Linda McCullough makes insensitive comments about Mirabelle’s race - says they are adding
Asian art to their home and the baby loves rice
8. Brian’s parents (Cliff and Clair) argue over if people should be allowed to raise children from
different races
9. Mrs. Richardson tells Pearl that she (her mother and the Shakers) believed in equality,
diversity, and seeing everyone as an equal
10. Ed Lim questions Linda McCullough about how she will teach the baby about her race
11. Ed Lim states that May Ling would be “divorced” from her birth culture if the McColloughs are
allowed to adopt her
12. When an article in newspaper writes about Ed Lim’s “aggressive” tactics, Mr. Richardson
recognizes the truth: that an angry Asian man did not fit the public’s expectation

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https://www.coursehero.com/file/189246644/Motifs-in-Little-Fires-Everywheredocx/
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