41 pages • 1 hour read
Paradise on Fire
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Symbols & Motifs
Fire
Fire is an important motif, symbolizing different things throughout Paradise on Fire. Initially, fire represents trauma and loss for Addy because it killed her parents. To try to control the uncontrollable, Addy makes mazes and maps. Her ongoing trauma around fire implies that she has not moved past her parents’ deaths. When she thinks about why she makes maps and plots her exit, it goes back to fire: “Escape. Flee. From what? My mind answers, ‘Fire’” (64).
As the novel continues, fire’s role becomes more complex. It destroys and is extremely powerful, but it also allows renewal and regrowth. Leo takes Addy to an area in the forest that has been burned by wildfire, and she sees the regrowth that comes from the destruction. While human-made drought and careless campfires can cause severe damage, some fire is natural and good for the environment because it improves the ecosystem. When Addy and the others are caught in a wildfire, her initial response is terror. However, this test allows her to take on her greatest fear and confront fire in a physical way, illustrating her talents for Survival and Resilience despite extremely poor odds.
By the end of the novel, fire symbolizes the empowerment and regrowth that Addy herself has gone through, reflecting her Personal Growth and Self-Discovery. While fire initially symbolizes trauma and unpredictability, it comes to symbolize rebirth and growth as Addy’s new chapter begins.
Maps and Mazes
At the start of the novel, maps symbolize order and Addy’s attempt to control and understand the world around her. Initially, Addy is bewildered by the difference in mapping the natural world instead of the man-made world of the city, where she has spent her entire life. Leo helps her understand topographical maps and create maps that reflect the natural world so that she can make meaning in nature. Mapmaking hints at Addy’s need to find a bigger meaning for her life and process the things that have happened to her, including the fire that killed her parents. Maps help Addy feel safe, and she thinks, “I wonder—if I came here long enough, mapped every step and slope, would I feel safe?” (74).
Conversely, mazes symbolize the complexity and unpredictability of the world: “Broken lines. Dead ends. Incomplete openings. That’s what a maze does. Disrupts progress, confuses direction. Complicates” (4). While mazes themselves are disruptive, Addy focuses on the pathway of escape. If she has a way to escape, then she can control what happens around her. The ultimate maze occurs in the novel when the wildfire breaks out near where Addy and the other campers are sleeping. If she chooses a wrong path, it could cost her and her friends their lives. It is Addy’s strength with maps that allows her to navigate the complexities of the wildfire maze and save herself and her friends.
The dual symbolism of maps and mazes in the novel explores Addy’s journey and her desire for order in chaos, but it also shows the strength that navigating chaos can give her.
Eagles
Eagles symbolize freedom, strength, vision, and The Importance of Nature. Addy has always had a connection with eagles because her full name, Adaugo, means “daughter of the eagle.” She also has a connection to flying because her mother had to throw her out the window of their apartment to save her from a fire. However, it is only when she gets to Paradise Ranch that she connects with the eagles there. When she rides a zipline for the first time, she thinks, “I’m flying, my body light, sweeping through air. Looking down, I see crevices. I’m unafraid. I won’t fall. I’m flying like an eagle” (97). Repeatedly, Addy is connected with the eagle and flight. She is constantly creating maps and mazes, which are drawn from above in a bird’s-eye view.
Eagles symbolize strength, which Addy has to call on many times in the novel. When she is struggling to physically continue after going for help on her own, she sees an eagle, which gives her the strength to continue. The eagle symbolizes her ability to overcome obstacles and rise above adversity. In the Epilogue, the eagles’ return to the area after the wildfire signifies that the area is healing after trauma: “The eagles are back. One, in particular, watches me. I watch him” (240). While the wildfire traumatized the area and Addy, both nature and Addy will regrow and become stronger for what they have been through.
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By Jewell Parker Rhodes
