Little Fires Everywhere Quotes

Jared Flournoy

Marchand 4

4/1/23

English lll Honors

In her novel, Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng uses the characteristics like secretive and conformist behaviors in the characters Mia and Pearl in the setting of Shaker Heights to reveal the theme of hiding one’s true self will only lead to pain and unhappiness in the end.

In the novel, Little Fires Everywhere, the character of Pearl is a teen who can be easily influenced by others, all for the sake of fitting into certain groups. Pearl’s mother, Mia shows concern for her daughter’s behavior, noticing “as the weeks went on, it worried Mia a little, the influence Richardson’s seemed to have over Pearl, the way they seemed to have absorbed her into their lives—or vice versa” (Ng 38).

When the truth about Mia’s past comes out and how she lied to Pearl during her entire life, Pearl is devastated and hurt. In a fit of anger, Pearl expresses her pain, saying “ ‘Why are you telling me this?’ she had asked her mother. ‘I mean why are you telling me this now?’ Mia had taken a deep breath. How did you explain to someone—how did you explain to a child, a child you loved—that someone they adored was not to be trusted?” (Ng 309). Mia’s decision to lie to Pearl leaves her disconnected from her own mother, making her feel as if she can’t trust the woman who she once admired. This causes a rift between the mother and daughter as Pearl realizes that she can no longer trust her mother and must find her own path in the world. Additionally, Pearl realizes that Mia often prioritizes her own needs rather than the needs of her daughter, causing a strain between

Ng based conformist behavior on her own hometown of Shaker Heights, OH, stating ““One of the things that I was really interested in, in this book in particular, was the sort of ways that those bonds formed and dissolved. I think of them as sort of constellations almost: They connect up in different ways and in different structures, but they also belong to other constellations. I liked that idea that there are all these overlapping webs, and I was interested in how they're forming these alliances with each other.” (Good Reads Interview). The use of Pearl as a symbol of a conformist character highlights the experience most teenagers feel during adolescence, the need to fit in and be accepted by a