A House on Fire Symbol Analysis

The story’s title, “Like a House on Fire,” is not only the name for Cate Kennedy’s wider short story collection, but the image—of a house on fire—is also a central symbol throughout this particular story. It is first introduced when the narrator describes the strain that his injury has had on his marriage with Claire. He contrasts the current state of their relationship—filled with “frustration and fury,” “grimaces,” and “excruciating discussion[s]”—to how things were before the accident: “Listening to the two of us, you'd never believe that we used to get on like a house on fire.” Here, the narrator uses the simile to describe how close him and Claire were in the past, and how strong and happy their marriage was. The expression “like a house on fire” connotes friendship, passion, and love. Shortly after making this comparison, however, the narrator changes his mind. He decides that the expression actually better describes danger, disaster, and destruction, and acknowledges that this is a more accurate portrayal of his current relationship with Claire: “but now that I think of it, a house on fire is a perfect description for what seems to be happening now: these flickering small resentments […] this faint, acrid smell of smoke.” The symbol of a house on fire therefore comes to represent the strength—or fragility—of his marriage, and how worried the narrator is about losing control over yet another aspect of his life. At the story’s close, Kennedy portrays how a gentle exchange between the narrator and his wife allows them to rekindle their fraught relationship, creating a “controlled burn” in place of a roaring fire. Through this final allusion to the house on fire, Kennedy suggests that with patience, communication, and understanding, the couple will be able to save their marriage, even in the face of adversity.