Burning Images The Metaphor of Fire in Literature

Abstract

Abstract: Fire is often used as a metaphor, both in everyday language and in literature. This essay aims to investigate the properties of this metaphor in a literary context through analysis of two novels, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and The Great Fire of London by Peter Ackroyd. The methods used are the linguistic idea of metaphors as a cognitive tool, postmodern theories of intertextuality and the formalist concept of estrangement. By applying these theories, the essay concludes that the fire metaphor has some properties that might seem to make it inappropriate for literary use, but which can be overcome. One method of doing so is by letting the fire metaphor represent several meanings simultaneously, or by letting it become an intertextual focal point for several different texts.