Poverty, misogyny, and racism take a front seat. Fireweed captures elements of Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive by Stephanie Land and Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, reflecting similar themes of self-discovery and disenfranchisement through a fictional medium.
A power imbalance between spouses reoccurs throughout Jenny’s closest relationships, her mother and friends demonstrating that the most desirable facet of womanhood is complacency. “Women were always responsible,” Haddad writes. “For what we did, what other women did. What men did — to us, because of us.” A feeling of powerlessness invades the book, overwhelming and inescapable. It shows just how lonely prejudice can make a community.
Jenny equates motherhood with womanhood, struggling to understand her role without children despite the interpersonal dangers reflected in her relationship with her parents. Still, she maintains a sweet disposition toward nurturing children of her own, unwilling to give up her need to take care of someone else.