Fire in the Ashes

Jeremy, one of the children Kozol profiles, was attacked when his elevator would not come to the ground floor of his run-down building, and another child died in the elevator shaft of his building. Elevators symbolize the way in which the children in the South Bronx were trying to thrive, but they did not receive help and had no upward mobility; the world around them did not help them rise.

Pietro kept a duck named Oscar in his apartment, even though it was not permitted by the social worker from the welfare department. He tried to hide the duck, but the welfare woman found it and made them give it up. For Pietro, the duck symbolized the little bit of joy he could give his kids, who had to live without the typical diversions and enjoyments of more privileged children.

When Kozol went with Pineapple for a walk by the water in Rhode Island, they had a very open talk about the problems in Pineapple’s father life (her father was having trouble with the immigration authorities), and about her hopes and dreams. Water symbolizes a kind of freedom that people in the Martinique, for example, did not have. Some of the families found that the shelters they were sent to did not have running water—a sign of the way in which they lacked not only freedom but basic needs.