Things You Save in a Fire

Throughout the novel, there is a recurring motif in which Cassie has to fend off hugs from friends, co-workers, and family members who sometimes mean well and sometimes don’t. After the award ceremony, her co-worker, Hernandez, says he thinks she needs a hug, and she struggles to think of a polite way to refuse. When she first reunites with Diana, Cassie says, “She moved in for a hug in slo-mo. I saw her lean in, and I thought, Don’t hug me. Don’t hug me. Then she hugged me. I stepped back when she released me” (87). Due to Cassie’s traumas and her refusal to express her emotions, she holds back from showing affection, especially if it involves physical contact. When Owen tells her that she always looks like she needs a hug and that he always wants to give her one, Cassie shuts down the conversation automatically, refusing to let him anywhere near her. Her actions here illustrate the distance she wants to put between herself and her emotions. When she and Owen finally do get together, one of the first things she does is hug him, calling it “a crazy thing” (366). She also notes that, though this wasn’t her first hug recently, as she had been initiating some with Diana and Josie, she says, “[I]t was the first hug I could remember in years that I wanted for myself,” representing a highly symbolic reclaiming of her body for her own use after the trauma of her assault (366). Owen’s mother, Colleen, also hugs Cassie after learning that she was the one who saved Owen’s life. This hug represents forgiveness, something Cassie struggles with throughout the novel. The motif of the hug functions as a physical embodiment of Cassie’s character arc throughout the novel, as she reclaims ownership of her body, learns to trust others, and becomes increasingly comfortable with emotional vulnerability.