The House Is on Fire

“An attendant extinguishes the wall sconces in the gallery, and as the theater’s lights dim, Cecily can feel herself begin to disappear. She is in the theater and then she is back in the cellar, she is a little girl in the smokehouse and a tiny seed in her mother’s womb. She is all of these things and she is nothing at all, and by the time the curtain lifts, her face is wet with tears.”

Though Cecily is reacting in this moment to her fears for her future at Elliott’s hands, it also foreshadows her eventual escape. Just as she feels like she is disappearing as the lights go down, the theater fire really will give her the chance to disappear.

“‘It ain’t always gonna be like this,’ he whispers. He’s surprised by the way the words catch in his throat on their way out.”

Gilbert’s words to Sara are an early example of Gilbert’s optimism. Throughout the novel, he maintains hope for the future, not only for himself and Sara but for Cecily as well. Even as he becomes discouraged due to the abuse he experiences at Kemp’s hands, he is determined to move toward a better future. This passage also hints at Gilbert’s evolution in the novel. He is surprised by his emotion here—at this point, he believes he can buy his and Sara’s freedom through hard work, but the words catching in his throat indicate that even this early, part of him knows this isn’t true.

“‘Do something, kid!’ says Perry, a tangle of ropes in his hands, but Jack can’t move, can’t think of a single thing to do. He barely knows how to make himself useful when everything is going right.”

This sets up the struggle Jack will deal with throughout the aftermath of the fire. Young and with no one looking out for him, Jack is unsure of himself and often lacks the confidence to act on his own initiative. This scene also contrasts with Green brushing off Jack’s concerns over the chandelier earlier; then, he was a child to be ignored, but here, he is supposed to take action.

“Sally’s legs shake. She has had quite enough of being the hero.”

Sally takes charge inside the burning theater, showing her competence and cool head. The other women continue to look to her for guidance after she first begins to help, revealing how the person who steps up often has to continue to be the hero. This also mirrors Gilbert’s actions in helping to catch the women jumping.

“But then it occurs to him that maybe Louisa is alive, on the other side of the green, because some man like Gilbert is working to save the lives of people he doesn’t know.”

Gilbert’s good nature and heroism are shown here, as well as his continuing optimism. Even after all he has experienced, he wants to find the good in people and be able to trust in others, and he believes in the power of good. Ironically, few men are helping like Gilbert, though these scenes highlight Sally’s and other women’s heroic actions.

“Cecily brings her hand to her mouth. She lodges the ash on the soft meat in the middle of her tongue and allows it to melt there like snow. By the time it has disappeared, so has she.”

This is the moment that Cecily makes her decision to run. The mention of the fire’s ash and its disintegration mirrors the way that Cecily’s pre-fire life has quickly dissolved. The fire’s rapid spread is matched by Cecily’s fast-changing circumstances. Here, ash also takes on connotations of purity and change in the simile comparing it to snow, as well as imagery that parallels the Eucharist.

“‘Selfish bastards,’ she whispers under her breath, then, in a voice loud enough for Mrs. Cowley to hear, she tries to make light of their quick departure. ‘I suppose they decided they’d get out of here before I asked them for something else.’ ‘That may be true,’ says Mrs. Cowley, who does not look Native so much as otherworldly in the dim light of her lamp. ‘But in this house you may ask for anything you like.’”

Here the tension and contrasts between what is expected for Sally and the reality of her experiences are shown. The men of her station, who should be courteous and chivalrous, are eager to avoid unpleasant situations unpleasant. Mrs. Cowley in contrast, is immediately kind, solicitous, and knowledgeable.

“‘Huh,’ says Placide, as if he’s never considered the fact that Robertson—or any of them, really—might have an altruistic bent.”

That Placide is surprised by Robertson staying to help in the aftermath of the fire shows his and the theater company’s insular outlook. As is repeatedly shown, they are willing to throw anyone and everyone into danger to protect themselves. Placide is their leader in this, his general lack of morals rippling out to the rest of the company.

“It feels strange to leave him like this. The two men made an odd team, but they did more good together in a few minutes’ time than Gilbert has otherwise done in his entire life.”

The odd connections and circumstances that the fire forges are explored with each of the four main characters. Here Gilbert reflects on not only the oddness and brevity of his connection with Dr. McCaw, but also on how deeply their brief connection has affected him.

“Such a pretty girl, someone says. Then Cecily had it real hard, as if being burned up might be preferable to what they all know she’s been putting up with.”

The contradictions that the fire has created and exposed are seen in this discussion of Cecily’s fate. The fire, such a terrible tragedy, is considered on par or a better fate than suffering at the hands of Elliott Price, succinctly expressing the violence and tragedy of the institution of enslavement.

“They are gifted actors who are transforming the American stage, and who might—if given enough time—have come to recognize his own talents, but they are not virtuous.”

Jack begins the novel in love with the stage and delighted to have the chance to work for Placide and Green. This quote is an early indication of the truth that Jack will learn in the wake of the fire—that talent does not make one moral or more deserving of leadership and power.

“For the first time in a long time, Cecily feels hopeful. Her mother is the most capable woman she knows, and if she turns her attention to spiriting her eldest daughter out of Richmond, Cecily feels sure she’ll succeed.”

The connection between Cecily and her mother, Della, is a key part of the novel. Della’s determination to protect and help her daughter shows not only how strong she is but also the cruelty of enslavement in making such a loving relationship dangerous to both parties involved.

“What can Sally possibly tell him? That the question is not whether his wife will forgive him but whether she will live to one day contemplate the concept of forgiveness.”

The determination Archie has to continue on as things were before the fire shows the disparity of experience between him and Sally and Margaret. Sally and Archie are speaking at cross purposes here, with Archie’s incomprehension of Margaret’s dire situation exposing his ignorance.

“You listen and you listen good. You are my property, and if I wanted you plucking ladies out of the night sky, I’d have sent you up to the theater green myself.”

The inhumanity of both Cameron Kemp and the system of enslavement are shown here. Kemp is more concerned with the potential financial loss he would have experienced had Gilbert been injured than the women Gilbert saved. His anger here is also motivated by a loss of control—even a good deed can’t be good when it reveals that he does not actually fully control Gilbert just because he has enslaved him.

“Everybody in this city has lost somebody in that fire, and if these men can stand before him on this sad day and demonstrate their gratitude, like he is an honest-to-God citizen of this city and not just somebody’s property, then maybe there is hope for him after all.”

Gilbert, throughout the novel, always tries to do the right thing. He is unable to leave people to suffer or not to help when he can. The recognition of his heroism from the other citizens of Richmond, even if it doesn’t last, is deeply meaningful to Gilbert. This gives Gilbert a taste of being respected as a person rather than disregarded or harmed as an enslaved person, making Kemp’s abuse even harder to bear.

“Jack expects to feel terrible, lying about something this important, and there’s a part of him that does. But there’s another part of him that feels elated to have come through with a logical explanation that Ritchie appears to be buying.”

The choice Jack must make between praise and listening to his conscience causes him strife throughout the book. He wants to follow his late father’s example and be a good man, but he is also drawn to the theater and the recognition of Placide and Green. Here, he is not ready to come clean as helping the company still pleases him. That these two things are at odds ultimately leads to his loss of respect for the theater company managers.

“‘She good at pretending things is all right,’ says Della. ‘Been doing it since she was a wink of a girl. If she’s got a pass, and no one’s looking for her, I don’t see why it won’t work.’”

Here, Della shows not only her own determination to help Cecily but also offers an outside view of Cecily’s personality, showing how her life and experiences have shaped her. It also shows how similar the two are; each is able to do what they must to survive.

“Ritchie describes fathers shrieking for their children, husbands for their wives, and brothers for their sisters, but it was the other way around. It’s the women who were shrieking, while the men pushed past them—and in some cases, climbed over them—to get to the door.”

The disparity between the men’s accounts of the fire and the women’s is made all the more concerning because of how many more women died than men. Sally’s disgust with Ritchie’s published narrative is one instance of her disillusionment with the men around her post-fire.

“She’s spent all this time thinking about how hard it will be to leave her mama and papa and brother and sisters behind. But maybe what she should have been thinking about was how hard her leaving was going to be on them.”

The mutuality and wholesomeness of Cecily’s family relationships are shown through her escape and the aid they provide. This is in contrast to the violent, controlling, and loveless Price family.

“It strikes Sally as tragic that a girl who fought tooth and nail for her own survival, just two nights ago, should fear something as simple as being in the same house as her older brother.”

The fire also continues to show how little due is given to those who have suffered when it is inconvenient for the powerful. Maria has trauma but is not allowed to heal or rest because Elliott dislikes where she is doing it. Maria can survive the fire but has no recourse against her family.

“Listening to her mama stand up to Elliott, after all these years of watching him take exactly what he pleased, fills Cecily with gratitude. But the feeling doesn’t last because the next thing Cecily knows, Della is laid out in the middle of the street, blood pouring from her nose.”

Della not only stands by her morals but does something cathartic. That she is punished for it and has no protection from the ensuing violence emphasizes not only Elliott’s cruelty but also the horrors of the system she is stuck in.

“Gilbert knows when he’s lost, and he prides himself on taking his licks like a man. But there’s something about walking out of that barn, no closer to getting Cecily out of harm’s way. He just can’t do it.”

Gilbert once again shows not only his devotion to those he loves but his upstanding character. Though helping Cecily comes at an enormous cost to himself, he does not consider another course of action because he knows it is the right thing to do. This is an example of the community care required to get Cecily to safety, a contrast to the selfish ways white men acted during the fire.

“Jack came to Girardin’s in search of advice, but now he sees that he doesn’t need it. If he wants to do right by his professor and the scores of other families like Girardin’s—not to mention the countless Negroes whose lives have been turned upside down by the theater troupe’s lies—then there is only one thing to do.”

Jack has struggled since the fire with his conscience. Though he has tried to do the right thing in certain instances, coercion, violence, and his desire for approval have kept him from making the final step toward assuaging his guilt. The terrible tragedy is brought home to him at Girardin’s house, and he is able to finally resolve to tell the truth.