“Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng: Novel suggests that Izzy, who intentionally destroys her family’s house by fire, has multiple personality

Teenager Isabelle “Izzy” Richardson is said by her brother to have “always been mental,” and that now, after setting the fire, “When Mom and Dad find Iz, they are going to lock her up in a psych ward for the rest of her life” (1, p. 7), perhaps implying that Izzy had previously been psychiatrically hospitalized, but only temporarily.

Most of the rest of this novel gives reasons why Izzy is upset with her family, and nothing further is said about psychiatrically hospitalizing her. At the end, her mother just wants to find her. But the description of how Izzy is thinking at the time she is starting the fire suggests multiple personality:

“It was as if she were standing outside herself, watching someone else do these things” (1, p. 323).

But even if this novel does suggest multiple personality, it is not explicitly labeled or acknowledged as such, which is the usual case in novels. Why? My theory is that most fiction writers have personal experience with the symptoms of multiple personality trait (multiple personality without distress or dysfunction) (they write novels and don’t start fires), but they usually do not think of it in those terms.

1. Celeste Ng. Little Fires Everywhere. New York, Penguin Press, 2017.