STORY SUMMARY: The story is told in the 1st person by a woman in the late 1800’s working in an inner city garment factory. She comes out of the bathroom to see a fire has started. Women try and escape down the elevator shaft as smoke fills the room. She heads for the fire escape, but it collapses, killing everyone on it. Finally, she decides the best thing to do to prevent being burned to death it to jump to her death.

DISCUSSION: The story is a historical fiction version of the Triangle Shirt factory fire. The story isn’t really about the fire though, it’s about suicide. Is it okay to kill yourself when you are being burned alive? What if that burning alive is depression, or recovering from some disease or injury that is very painful? It feels like it will never end and it feels like killing yourself is the lessor pain. Nobody jumps out of a burning building because they think they are going to live, they jump because it’s better than being burned alive. How long are you required to suffer before you can stop your suffering? Are you required to never quit?

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