Desire for human connection
For much of her life, Yamaye has gone without human connection. Her mother died very young, and her father remained distant for most of Yamaye's childhood. As a result, Yamaye spent much of her life searching for another person she could connect with. After years of searching, she found that person in Moose, who she starts a romantic relationship with. Yamaye feels that Moose understands her and that the two have an unbreakable connection. Their relationship goes well for a while until Moose is shockingly killed. Yamaye is crestfallen and believes she will never be able to feel the same way she did with Moose again. Ultimately, all that any human being wants is to feel loved and connect with someone else. Yamaye found and lost that connection; it is essential, the novel argues, for people not to stop searching if such a tragic thing occurs in their lives.
Love
Love is one of the most significant themes in Fire Rush. At the novel's start, its main character Yamaye is not in the mood for love or a romantic relationship. She thought that she would be alone for the rest of her life, much like her father after the death of his wife. He wanted to have love in his life but couldn't find it. Not only that, he did not have anything in his life that he loved, including a job and even his daughter.
Living as an immigrant
In the 1980s, there was a mass movement of immigrants from Jamaica to the United Kingdom (and England in particular). In the United Kingdom, the new Jamaican immigrants created their own communities and their culture along with it. Additionally, many of the immigrants had better opportunities for economic success in the United Kingdom. In these ways, many of the immigrants had an easier life in their new country. However, they also dealt with difficult things too. Yamaye and her family, for instance, deal with racism and other distasteful behavior from those around them, including people who aren't accepting. The immigrants also deal with violence which affects those around them in profound ways; they likewise must contend with struggles in assimilating to their new country's culture (as Yamaye and her family did when they came to the United Kingdom from Jamaica). Yamaye loses Moose to the violence. In many ways, the novel argues that people take a view that is too simplistic of immigrants. Although they are generally better off in their new countries, they still face significant challenges too.
