LIKE A House ON FIRE short story summary PDF

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LIKE A HOUSE ON FIRE Summary: A father with a spinal injury tries to force his three children to enjoy putting up with his family Christmas tree, while his wife is at work. As Christmas approaches his recovery is slower than expected, raising concerns the condition may be psychosomatic Title: Eponymous story (story with the same title as the collection), two tensions are apparent. One is the central relationship (Claire and her husband). The other is thematic: a tension b/w the normally celebratory time of year (Christmas), and the sorrowful, difficult atmosphere in the family as the protagonist struggles with his injury and with the long- term unemployment and physical and psychological pain his incapacitation causes him. The simile „like a house on fire‟, the title of the anthology and a cliché expression which refers to people getting along happily, reflects this idea. Many of the characters in these stories are not in fact getting along well together; indeed, some of the relationships are destructive and involve a violation of the sanctuary that home and family traditionally provide. Invites us to see this cliché expression- which is usually used to refer to people getting along happily- as subverted. Key ideas and themes Marital discord Impact of injury The father drops and smashes the Christmas decorations (pg 74), symbolising the damage his injury has done to what should be a time of family celebration The choice of words ‘kill the occasion’ and ‘poisoned it ‘ (pg 77) show the extremes of the damage he feels he is doing, and of his suffering Kennedy uses vivid imagery of the man’s physical injury to describe the conflict in the relationship; the couple’s communication has been reduced to the ‘tiny squeezed and inflamed gas’ that is the injured space in his spinal disc’ (pg 79) Loss of power/ status within the familial matrix

Characters Protagonist An unnamed, damaged man, struck down by a workplace injury, who struggles with everyday challenges. Feels a sense of helplessness and humiliation at being so immobile

Managing diminished hopes Loss of innocence

Claire (wife) Works as a nurse, looking after the elderly Initially compassionate towards her injured husband but their relationship, her patience and their financial situation have all become strained On the other hand she has a professional detachment from his suffering and pain Resents the extra burdens which have been placed on her as wage earner and in the home.

Ben, Sam, Evie: Children The reader is also aware of the children’s voices and their own ways of coping with a helpless father, as well as their changing perspective on Christmas.

Context/ setting –geographical, historical, social How is the setting constructed in this story

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Elements of the short story: genre/plot /narration Structure: Opening/closing Point of view….

Set within the context of a modern nuclear family with all its struggles and resentments. There is also the social context of disbelief in Australia over workers and workers compensation. Both the doctor and his wife (a nurse) express in their different ways a scepticism about his injury and slow recovery. There is the familial context of a father seeking to assert his authority over his children when he is a diminished and damaged man. Tension: One is the central relationship (Claire and her husband). The other is thematic: a tension b/w the normally celebratory time of year (Christmas), and the sorrowful, difficult atmosphere in the family as the protagonist struggles with his injury and with the longterm unemployment and physical and psychological pain his incapacitation causes him.

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The story begins with the main character explaining how difficult it is to perform simple household tasks such as carrying a Christmas tree. This sets the stage for all the humiliations/resentments which bedevil this family. The story closes with the suggestion of a truce between the warring partners. His wife refers to it as a ‘temporary respite’ (92) implying that things may be just as bad tomorrow. For the time being he feels optimistic as he feels that

‘small heat build between them. The cold embers of their relationship will perhaps be rekindled at this point.

Language: Symbolism, metaphor, simile Symbolism (fire) On one hand they ‘used to get on like a house on fire’. Now the house is on ‘fire’, being destroyed by the flames of anger and resentment. Conversely the ‘flames’ of passion have been extinguished. Only in the closing lines is there a hint that they may be able to rekindle those flames.

Moments of conflict Internal conflict as the husband struggles with the shopping and Christmas – loss of dignity and strength (74) Little eye contact with Claire (74) Conflict with his older children who are too old for ‘Santa’. (75-76) Guilt over Claire as breadwinner. (77) Claire’s anger at his ineptitude and incompetence. (7879) Claire’s scepticism over his slow rate of recovery. (80) Ditto his doctor. (82) Accusations of ‘martyrdom’ and ‘control freakery’ by Claire. (84) Once they got on ‘like a house on fire’. Now that fire is consuming the family home. (86) Quotes ‘fail each week to bring home any sort of pay cheque’ (pg 74) ‘The Christmas tree seller „gives me a look he reserves for shirkers, layabouts, vandals and those destroying the social fabric by refusing to pull their weight.‟ (Pg 73) ‘Very little eye contact these days, my wife.‟ (Pg 74) ‘I have to spend hours at a time horizontal…‟ (Pg 75) ‘ too familiar with endlessly compromised plans’ (pg 76) ‘I lie each day and dread a phone call or a sneeze.‟ (Pg 77) ‘Some days it feels like that‟s my entire identity focused there in one single space between two injured segments of a bone puzzle…‟ (Pg 78) Other stories Questions

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The husband has virtually been reduced to the status of a ‘baby’. On his back and unable to perform many adult tasks.

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‘two boxes drop like stones’ (pg 74) ‘feels like someone has taken a big ceramic shard out of the box’ (pg 76) Metalanguage ‘kill to occasion now that I’ve poisoned it’ Moments of resolution and hope ‘finds the spot and something cracks’ – we both hear it- like a flexed knuckle (link to Flexion.. when people work together) Ben softens his abrasive attitude regarding Christmas. (88) The narrator and Claire join together in a rare moment of warmth and intimacy. He hopes that they may rekindle the old ‘fire’ of passion. (92-93)

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‘You get good at listening to sounds in a household when you‟re prone…a head shaking in pained disbelief, or a distant teeth grinding…‟ (Pg 78-79) ‘…She was lavish in her care those first few weeks.‟ (Pg 79) ‘I can‟t remember the last time my wife touched me with hands that were anything except neutral and businesslike…‟ (Pg 80) ‘This is how you do it, I think, stick by careful stick over the ashes, oxygen and fuel, a controlled burn.‟ (Pg 92) ‘tightly constrained hiss of frustration and fury’ (pg 78) Inadequate sense of self ‘the accusation you can hear in a trudge, you wouldn’t credit it’...