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What “The Girl in the Flammable Skirt” Says About Passion Passion, a force, just like gravity, that cannot be seen but is there and has a huge impact on how we act. However, unlike gravity, it does not weigh us down. Actually, it does quit the opposite, metaphorically speaking. One can argue that passion and the overwhelming emotions that is provokes is what played a major role in the advancements humans have made throughout history. And if someone were to take a look at all of those who have become successful in their endeavors, they would find that what all of these people have in common is the driving force that is passion that somehow allows people to set out on a path to achieve their goals and face all the obstacles along the way. An instance of passion can be seen in Aimee Bender’s “The Girl in the Flammable Skirt,” a short story about a teenage girl’s strained relationship with her sick father. At quick glance the story is basically a collection of random, loosely connected events that also consists of ridiculous characters which might leave some to question its direction and the message it is trying to convey the readers. But if someone were to take a closer look at the story and take note of the symbolism Bender is using then they would be able to see how the story deals with passion and what it has to say about it. And despite the seemingly occurrences that take place in it, the story shows the effect of passion has on people and communicates that passion is a force that drives us and allows those with a strong desire and mind to realize and achieve the potential that lives within them.
There many different obstacles that people may face in life and the main character’s obstacle is just one of many. What they all have in common, however, is that whether or not they can be overcome all comes down to passion, and the will to face problems head on. This is because passion changes the way we think about our situation at hand. The emotions it brings yp shifts the way we look at our own life and we are able to see positives within these problems and obstacles in our lives. Throughout the story, the main protagonist has to take on the burden of dealing with her father’s illness. This burden is described as a “stone backpack” that is “dense, pushed out to its limit, gray and cold to the touch” (Bender 173). When thinking about stone, a word that is often used to describe it is heavy, so carrying stone would weigh someone down which is how Bender wanted readers to view the girl in the story, which was as being weighed down and barely able to stand. The other adjectives used to describe the “stone backpack” only reinforce this notion. As soon as she discovers her passion, however, the main character describes herself as being “scot – free and young in the world. I am as breezy and light as a wing made from tissue paper” (Bender 180). At first she saw no way out of her impossible situation because of the weight of this metaphorical “stone backpack.” But by changing the way she looked at her situation, she realized that she was young, had her whole life ahead of her, and really did have control over her own life despite her situation. This sudden instance of passion did not come out of nowhere, however.
Passion is not something that just comes to people. It is usually triggered by emotions like love, hate, desire and purpose. It can also be triggered by an event that took place or by an epiphany. And at the end of the story, an event that occurred earlier in the story accompanied by an epiphany was what led to the protagonist finding her passion in this case. When she goes to school with the “stone backpack,” the protagonist tells her teacher “everything feels very heavy right now” to which the teacher pulls out a Kleenex and states that she wanted to show her something light.” This shows that in the story, her teacher is portrayed as someone who the protagonist confides in and looks to for advice in dealing with the burden she has to carry. Knowing this, the epiphany the protagonist has is obvious and can be seen when she walks outside of the hospital church and sees the two rats. Those rats are in reference to a joke her teacher, the protagonist’s advisor, told her earlier in the story that involved two rats. The two rats are test subjects and are given sugar cubes to eat. The first rat gets sick from them while the second one does not. When questioned “how did you stay so fine,” by the first rat, the second one answers with “I didn’t,” “I’m the dog” (Bender 174 – 175). This is more of an analogy rather than a joke and basically what the teacher was trying to say by telling this story is that the protagonist is like the second rat. While she may look fine to others as a rat, the fact is, she not supposed to be one, she is really something much more, a dog. The teacher wanted let the girl know of her potential by telling her this joke. If the event with her teacher never took place, it can be safely assumed that the protagonist would not have had the epiphany and consequently would not have found her passion at the end of the story.
What one must realize is that not everyone can come to the conclusion the protagonist did. It takes a strong will and the ability to endure. Her strong will can be seen at various points throughout the story. In the beginning, the girl is given the “stone backpack” or the burden of life that her father has to deal with, to much complaint by the main character. The “stone backpack” is heavy and she can barely even stand with it on but, she does not refuse it. She even takes it to school with her (Bender 173 – 174). Another instance of the protagonist’s strong will can be seen in the segment dealing with the person she keeps in her closet named Paul. She describes Paul as “my loverboy” and “my olive” implying that Paul is her boyfriend (Bender 177). And by keeping him in her closet she is effectively putting up a barrier between them so they do not get too close. This is further proven when Paul tells the girl to come join him in the closet he is staying in, and she refuses stating “I need to stay out here.” And when Paul asks why, she states “in case of an emergency” (Bender 178). Seeing as he is ill and in a wheelchair it is safe to assume that the emergency the girl is worried about has to do with her father. Even though she wants to be closer to Paul the protagonist realizes that she cannot because of the burden of her father’s illness, or the “stone backpack” she has to carry and is willing to sacrifice her own happiness in order to carry it.
The protagonist’s conclusion and sudden instance of passion can also be attributed to the constant worries she has about her own life and the life of her father. Throughout the story she is always thinking about seemingly random things however they are not so random when looked at closely. For example, when the protagonist’s father is on his deathbed, for the second time, he tells her daughter “you will carry on my genes.” This leads her to imagine “several bedridden, wheelchaired children” that she has to throw away because they do not work (Bender 179). The thoughts seem very weird and ridiculous but these thoughts that she has, which were spawned from her father’s statement, shows that she is worried about her future, more specifically, a future family she might have. And because of the constant worries she is forced to reevaluate her own life and, in turn, comes to the realization that she did at the end of the story.
And argument that might come up is that the protagonist is just going through the motions and is not necessarily being driven by passion, but by a sense of obligation and fear. Fear that if she does not carry her father’s burden, she will lose him. This is argument is partially correct in that the girl was, in fact, just going through the motions at first. The “stone backpack” was given to her and something she had to deal with regardless of whether or not she wanted that burden. She is also fearful of something happening to her father which can be seen when she is in the hospital’s church praying for her him to get better (Bender 179). However, the difference between a person motivated by passion and one who is not can be seen at the end of the story when she has her epiphany. She says “I don’t know what to do with myself so I keep holding the bagel and sit down by the closet door. Where is my father already? I want him to come rolling out and hand over that knapsack of his; my back is breaking without it” (Bender 180). The protagonist realizes that despite her impossible situation, she actually has a choice in carrying the “stone backpack” or not. And even though it was the cause of her turmoil she expressed her desire to carry it again. This is where her passion is and the difference between being motivated by passion and just going with the flow can be seen. She is no longer going to carry the “stone backpack” out of a sense of obligation or fear but out of her own volition and desire to help her father with the burden he carries. Even if that means she will be faced with adversity by carrying it.
In summation the struggles that the protagonist faces in the story is just one of many different problems that people are forced to face in their lives. And whether or not those problems are overcome depends on those people finding the passion to face the problems head on. With a story about a teenage girl and the troubles she faces Bender illustrates how passion can change the way a person views their situation and allows them to engage on a path to their goals and overcome obstacles in their way.

Works Cited
Bender, Aimee. “The Girl in the Flammable Skirt.” The Girl in the Flammable Skirt. New York
NY: Anchor Books, 1998. 173 – 181. Print.