AWall of Fire Rising is ashort story written by Edwidge Danticat . This story was first published in1995. The short is about a family of three Guy, Little Guy, and Lilli. Lilli is mother of Little guy ad Guy’s wife. Guyis the father works different jobs to take care of his family, and their sonLittle Guy goes to school.
The family lives in a poor town called Shantytown. Inorder to entertain themselves, they go as a family to the Assad’s hot air balloon. The Assad’s are the rich owners of the sugar mill . Guy is intrigued by theballoon and is always talking about it. Guy got a job working at the Sugar Millbut he was not as happy.
Guy’s mind is always filled with the chance of flyingthe balloon to somewhere better than where they are now. Guy questions Lilliabout her thoughts on how a man is judged after they are gone. Lilli respondsand Guy immediately remembers his father and began to compare himself to hisfather, whom he did not want to be like. One morning Lilli found Little Guy staringat the sky. Lilli was shocked to see Guyinside of the air balloon. Lilli and Little Guy made their way to the SugarMill.
People from the community watched as Guy soared into the sky and landedclose by the crowd. The balloon drifted away and Guy died as a result of leapingfrom the balloon and bleeding out. . Lilli looks at her husband for the lasttime, and told the sugar mill workers not to close Guy’s eyes because heenjoyed looking at the sky.
Analysis: Thetitle of the story comes from a line of the play that Little Guy is memorizingfor school. Freedom is one of the major themes of the story. They are a underprivilegedfamily, who sometimes did not have a meal to eat and had to find a means ofsuppressing hunger. Guy belives that a man should be able to provide for hisfamily, something that his father was unable to do. Guy felt worthless becausehe did not have a steady job and this increased his fear of becoming like hisown father.
Guy constantly questions Lilli about her beliefs on how a man isjudged after they are gone. This makes Lilli fear that Guy will leave her andLittle Guy in his quest for freedom. After Guy’s suicide, Lilli’s fears became prominent. The hot air balloon symbolizes freedom in the story. Guy often thinks aboutflying the balloon in search of a better future. At the end of the story, Guyuses the balloon as his way of committing suicide.
This is because he thought thatcommitting suicide was the only way out and to the only way to achieve freedom.