Suburbs Versus Nonconformists Everywhere
If you are going to read Little Fires Everywhere, be prepared to read yet another story about the nonconformist versus suburbia. Although my perspective could be skewed because I have grown up in a community similar to the setting of Shaker Heights, Ohio, I found myself becoming increasingly irritated at the hate and mockery that the author associated with the suburbs.
The central family of the story, the Richardsons, live a picturesque American life: the nuclear family of six, the lovely home, the well-paying jobs, the whole nine yards. When the eccentric "artist" Mia moves into the Richardson's rental home with her daughter, Pearl, the battle begins. Pearl quickly becomes friends with the middle boy of the Richardsons, Moody. The friendship blossoms into Pearl being almost a member of the Richardson family. While the family is incredibly inviting and generous to Pearl, the author portrays this almost as sabotage to the off-kilter lifestyle she grew up in (without a choice, I might add).
As a teenager, I am entirely on Pearl's side throughout the story, regardless of what the author is doing to make the reader support Mia. At the end of the day, teenagers want to fit in, and Pearl has been deprived of that her entire life because of her mom's wacky, nomadic life. That is what hit me as a weakness of the book, for the author immediately jumps to Mia being the best character; anyone who goes against her, disagrees with her, or judges her is considered a bad guy. I will go on to explain my problem with this when I pose my question for other readers, but for now, I will applaud the author for many of the book's qualities.
This book takes place in the late 1990s, and author Celeste Ng nails the pop culture perfectly. Whether it is Pearl, Lexi Richardson, and their friend Serena dressing up as Charlie's Angels for Halloween, talking to someone via landline, or the Richardson children having the after school tradition of watching The Jerry Springer Show, Ng transports the reader back to the 90s with great detail and imagery. Ng is also incredibly accurate when describing teenage crushes, relationships, etc. The reader recognizes the characters' feelings about everyone else, so it is fascinating to see those feelings play out. Watching the character development was also very interesting to me. When the oldest Richardson, Trip, is first introduced, he is the typical jock who only cares about himself and sports, but when he and Pearl start to develop a romantic relationship with each other, the reader sees how sensitive and soft-hearted he truly is. On the other hand, the reader first sees Moody Richardson as a down-to-earth, dorky kid who is head over heels for Pearl. Once he finds out about Pearl and Trip's relationship, he becomes bitter and malicious towards Pearl because the feelings are not reciprocated.
What I want to know, however, is why Mia is considered such a moral center of the book when she runs away as a pregnant surrogate, has the child, and raises her in a nomadic lifestyle to cover up her own wrong-doing. It feels as if Mia is consistently praised as a parent, and the Shaker Heights parents are constantly looked down on by the author. Mia lives a completely dishonest life and passes that on to her child. I do not find her eccentricity redeeming in any way because, at the end of the day, she deprives her child of a life she could have had, one where she knows her father and grandparents and where she does not switch schools every semester because of her mother's wacky ways. This book is an interesting read, but I can't agree with a liar being the protagonist.
Picture Credit: barnesandnoble.com
