Fireweed: analyse af Skye Brannons novelle

In the story ‘Fireweed’ by Skye Brannon, we hear about the immigrant Baluta, who has immigrated from Liberia to America. He is currently working for a woman named Tiffany, a typical modern woman. Tiffany is upset because she can’t get the right color paint for her. The color’s name is Fireweed, which wakes something in Balutas memory.

In the short story we meet the Baluta, who has immigrated to America from Liberia. He lives with his brother and sister in law. We soon learn that Baluta did have much more family in Liberia, but they died, and only him, his brother and sister in law made it to America. They probably immigrated because of the war in Liberia. On page 3, line 95 the dad says: “The war will be coming our way soon.” To flee from a country in war can be very difficult, and the journey contains a lot of dangerous and difficult situations. This may be the reason why only three made it to America.

Fireweed is a mix between events in the present and the past. The past is shown in flashbacks, that Baluta gets. We follow Baluta on a normal working day, and every time he sees something that reminds him of Liberia and his family, a flashback occurs. On page 2, line 107-111, we can see a switch between Baluta in America and Baluta in Liberia. This switch is caused by Tiffany mentioning ‘Fireweed’, which reminds Baluta of Liberia and something that happened in Liberia.