A Wall Of Fire Rising Summary

Edwidge Danticat, in “A Wall of Fire Rising”, writes a story of a family living in poverty in Haiti. The family has three members, the father Guy, his wife Lili, and their son, Little Guy. The story begins with Guy coming home with news to his family. Little Guy is excited to tell his father about the lines he has in the school play as the Boukman and recites them to his parents. After dinner, the family goes to the sugar mill in their town. At the sugar mill, there is a hot air balloon, which is fascinating to Guy. Guy believes that he can make the balloon fly. After playing and admiring the balloon, Guy and his family head back to their house. At that night, after approximately six months of unemployment, Guy tells his wife that he has to work the next day, scrubbing latrines at the sugar mill. In the sugar mill, there is a permanent hire list where Guy wants to add Little Guy, so that he can work when he grows up, but Lili does not agree. Lili and Guy, hear a loud scream coming from where their son sleeps. Little Guy forgot his lines. Lili tries to help him remember and when
It is inferred that the house is located in Haiti, because the lines that Little Guy has are from a revolutionary ancestor of the Haitian independence. The inside of the house is described as a “one-room home” with “clay floor” (229).
In the story, their lifestyle is described by using plastic buckets turned upside down to sit, and mats to sleep on. Every night Lili uses a lemon to moisturize her ashen legs. Little Guy, goes to school however it is inferred that Guy and Lili did not went to school, “If my father had worked there… I would be working” (235). In addition, in the story when there is not kerosene for the lamp, the son has to sit outside on the road to study under the street lamps by other neighbors.
The historical setting of this story is inferred to be after the Haitian