Each Tiny Spark

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 5

Chapters 6-11

Chapters 12-16

Chapters 17-21

Chapters 22-26

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Videos

The story starts and ends with videos. Before Chapter 1, Emilia makes a video for her dad. At the end of Chapter 26, the final chapter, Toni makes a video for his daughter. The videos aren’t a form of entertainment or a hobby—their symbolism is crucial and serious: They represent guidance and communication.

Emilia makes videos for her dad to guide him about who she is and what’s going on in her life. The videos are a map of her identity—similar to how the tour guides provide a map to Merryville. As Toni doesn’t reply to Emilia’s video (he doesn’t send her any videos), she doesn’t have a guide to him, and she becomes frustrated as she tries to gauge his emotions. Emilia says, “It seems like he wants to say something, but it’s almost like there’s a cable around his waist, pulling him back every time he wants to move forward” (207). When Toni makes the video, he ditches the symbolic cord and provides Emilia with a guide to his feelings. She understands how his feelings are like her ADHD, and she learns how his war experiences impact his relationship with his family.

The videos Gus and Emilia watch also provide guidance. From The Princess Bride, Emilia learns not to be a passive person and to help others. From horror films, Gus learns about fear and exploitation. The movies guide his approach to life and activism. After Clarissa calls Emilia’s tourism guide “junk,” Gus counters, “It’s not junk. It’s hidden information. Like a monster under your bed” (239). Gus connects Confronting Unflattering Truths and Embracing Activism and Change to combating monsters. Furthering the symbolism, Cartaya begins the book with a quote from del Toro about fear and love. Videos and movies teach people, and they can symbolize knowledge and guidance.

Fixing the Shelby

Emilia works on the Shelby Mustang with her dad, and she gradually sees the car as a symbol of self-improvement. Emilia explains,

The parts of this old car will take time to find. But we know what we need, at least. We have the puzzle mapped out on paper and the instructions on how to reassemble it. I wish I had a blueprint for my dad. I don’t know the pieces Papi’s keeping inside. How can I help him put anything back together if he doesn’t share the pieces? (223).

The car symbolism relates to the video symbolism. Emilia has a guide for the car, so she and Toni know what it needs, but she doesn’t have a guide for her dad, so she doesn’t know how she can help him communicate and express his feelings. People and cars have “pieces,” and Emilia wants to know about the pieces that make up her dad. Emilia furthers the symbolism behind the Shelby when she says, “You can’t expect your car to drive normally with a damaged axle. You have to take it apart” (303).

Emilia uses the car to refer to her community, but her words apply to people. People must examine themselves and inspect their parts. Like the Mustang, they might have some adverse qualities that require upgrading or replacement. To improve, a person can’t be afraid to deconstruct themselves. A “damaged axle” or an unadmirable trait doesn’t mean the entire person is unredeemable. The Shelby remains a valuable car, and so do imperfect people, but both need committed work and attention.

Environment

The motif of environment supports the three key themes. To accept all parts of a person’s identity, people must create environments where they can flourish. Emilia’s parents make a space that heeds her ADHD but doesn’t reduce her to it. Her mom encourages her activism, and her dad encourages her interest in taking things apart and fixing them by working on the car with her. Emilia’s family tries to create a hospitable environment for Toni. As Emilia says, “There are a few rules we have when Dad is home” (162). The rules acknowledge that Toni is a Marine, so loud sounds and surprises have a different impact on him.

Environments are not always hospitable, but they won’t become amicable unless people confront unflattering truths about them. Emilia says,

It’s cool to think about how people travel in and out of a place. The streets don’t change, but the feet walking on them do. I wonder if it’s the same with laws when towns change. Do they have to stay the same? (212)

To improve her environment outside her home—her community—Emilia embraces change and activism. Like people, environments need repair. Through compassion and committed work, people can improve their environments so they can serve a greater number of people. Communities and people aren’t stagnant, and laws and policies shouldn’t be either.