Why Did Elena Call CPS In 'Little Fires Everywhere'?

Elena calling CPS in 'Little Fires Everywhere' was a calculated move fueled by her desperation to maintain control. She saw Mia Warren as a threat to her perfect suburban life, especially when Mia’s unconventional parenting clashed with Elena’s rigid ideals. The final straw was discovering Pearl, Mia’s daughter, living in precarious conditions while Mia worked odd jobs. Elena twisted this into a justification, convincing herself she was 'protecting' Pearl. But let’s be real—it was about power. She weaponized the system to punish Mia for exposing cracks in her curated world. The call wasn’t altruistic; it was Elena’s attempt to erase what she couldn’t understand or control.

The CPS call in 'Little Fires Everywhere' reveals Elena’s deep-seated biases and privilege. From her perspective, Mia’s nomadic lifestyle and financial instability made her unfit to raise Pearl. Elena’s own life was built on order—white picket fences, planned pregnancies, and societal approval. Mia’s existence challenged that, so Elena pathologized her choices.

What’s chilling is how Elena frames her actions as moral duty. She ignores Pearl’s happiness and Mia’s love, focusing solely on material lack. The system, in her hands, becomes a tool for enforcing conformity. Meanwhile, Mia’s resilience and Pearl’s agency are erased. The call isn’t just about Pearl; it’s Elena’s rejection of any life that doesn’t mirror hers.

The irony? Elena’s own family crumbles because she prioritizes appearances over truth. Her daughter Izzy, the most like Mia, becomes her greatest failure in her eyes. The CPS incident underscores how fear masquerades as righteousness when privilege feels threatened.

Elena’s CPS call was a nuclear option disguised as concern. She’d spent years judging Mia—her art, her poverty, her refusal to follow Shaker Heights’ rules. When Mia helped Elena’s friend Bebe reclaim her adopted child, Elena saw her chance. Bebe’s struggle mirrored Mia’s, and that terrified Elena. What if her own kids questioned her choices? What if perfection wasn’t enough?

So she struck first. CPS was her way of saying Mia’s love didn’t count because it didn’t come with a mortgage. But Elena miscalculated. Pearl wasn’t some damsel; she knew her mother’s worth. The call backfired, exposing Elena’s cruelty instead of Mia’s 'failures.' It became the spark that burned her carefully constructed life to the ground.