Home Fire Annotations

        One passage from Home Fire that I felt was quite interesting was the following passage from page 20:

        "Overnight the temperature had climbed vertiginously, melting the snow into a river. She had heard it at her first waking, for the dawn prayer, as it rushed down the gentle slope of the street. It had been a winter of snowstorms, more than usual, she’d been told, and as she dressed she imagined people exiting their homes and, on patches of ground glimpsed for the first time in months, finding lost items—a glove, keys, pens, and pennies. "

        This paragraph comes right after Isma describes the studio apartment she will be staying in, and how she made herself comfortable. In addition to weather and color imagery, I feel that this passage is also foreshadowing what is to come in the story. The snow and storm symbolize the pain and struggles from Isma's past, and how they are slowly making way for the new life and opportunities she will have in America. The lost items symbolize the relationship with her brother, Parvaiz, as well as the loss of her Mother. Even if Parvaiz and Isma were to meet and Parvaiz apologized, they would not be able to re-establish the close relationship they shared in their childhood. The lost items are also reminiscent of how Isma is unsure of how she will stay connected with the people she loves after moving to America to continue her higher education. 

        The fact that Isma hears the snow trickling down the street, but is aware of the mixed emotions of finding lost items represents the conflicting feelings between starting a new life in America and negative feelings toward individuals like Parvaiz, who have played a significant role in her past but have no clear involvement in her future.