I Know Papa Thinks This Fire Summary

Melanie Crowder talks about the exasperated effort that Clara Lemlich (the main character) put into the rights of women factory workers. Clara Lemlich lead grand strikes against poor working conditions in the early 1900s. The author uses imagery, devices of poetry, symbolism, and other ways to get her point across about the movement.
The author’s tone is defiance. The story has an overall tone of defiance because it tells of going against the traditional Jewish norm for women. Not only that but it also tells of strikes against improper working conditions and treatment in the early 1900s. On page 38-39 it says “I know Papa thinks this fire in me stands against the faith he holds so dearly but I see our faith as the thing that lit this fire

in me to begin with.” not only does it show the author’s symbolism, but it shares more about how the author perceives where the spark of rebellion against traditions comes from. On pages 358-366 Clara Lemlich speaks out in the Cooper Union and that ends up in one of the biggest strikes of that time period for those reasons. Defiance as the author’s tone is shown here especially, because Clara goes against what her family and workplace wants and speaks against the inappropriate standard in factory jobs.
The author uses imagery to make a mental picture of the setting or to explain the feelings that Clara has.

On page five, in the first four stanzas, there are multiple repeated smiles, she compares her common external look to be as “common as a wren meek as a robin”. Later in the stanzas the author writes that “does not mean what is inside me is also common as a wren meek as a robin.”, telling that Clara is special and not ordinary. Another example of imagery is the smile on page 253, the quote describes the setting (Central Park), “petite trees like a garden of clouds round and white sparkling with the laughter of the sun.” This quote also shows personification with giving the sun

laughter.
Crowder does not use many devices of poetry. The ones she does use include are repetition, and the structure of the lines. Whenever the main character Clara is doing task/chores she repeats the steps like on page 188-189, “Thrust and lift, fold and thrust.” The quote is repeated several times after a series of statements. Repetition is made again on page 87 when the author repeats the words “the same”, “no matter”, and “at last!” with different idioms/nouns following the original words. The structure of the lines include dramatic pauses after thoughts or struggles in the book, like on page 86, a statement is made, then an important word is written two lines under, a space is made then the poem continues.
The symbolism that the author tries to convey throughout the book is that fire stands for determination/defiance.

The book is split into four sections each starting with a different word relating to fire. As the amount of book read increases as so does the tone word about fire. Before the first section the word/numbers “tinder, 1903” state that in the beginning of the main character’s life the “spark” of determination started. At the beginning of the next section the words/numbers “flame, 1905-1907” show the increase in her rebellion against the traditional Jewish roles. Before the next section the word/numbers “fire, 1908” are shown for the reader to see the defiance growing as the story goes on. Prior to the last section the word/numbers “blaze, 1909” reveal a foreshadowing hint about Clara’s most defying act yet which is joining the union and striking against the conditions of her workplace. Another example is on page 25, is “I learned long ago to douse these angry flames to make the coals burn low but steady.”, this line uses symbolism to show Clara keeping her anger on the inside and be calm on the inside. The line follows the actions of her father burning her books, because it’s not proper for a traditional Jewish girl to have

literature.