What does fire symbolize for Jeanette?

Fire represents many things for Jeannette. Fire is a source of heat, light, and destruction. Jeannette is fascinated and cautious of it.

I wondered if the fire had been out to get me. I wondered if all fire was related, like Dad said all humans were related, if the fire that burned me that day while I cooked hot dogs was somehow connected to the fire I had flushed down the toilet and the fire burning at the hotel. I didn’t have the answers to those questions, but what I did know was that I lived in a world that at any moment could erupt into fire. It was the sort of knowledge that kept you on your toes.