a house on fire essay pdf

English Compositions

Short Essay on a House on Fire [100, 200, 400 Words] With PDF

In this lesson, dear students, you will learn to write a narrative essay on ‘A House on Fire’ in three different sets. It will help you prepare for your upcoming examinations.

Table of Contents

Short essay on a house on fire in 100 words.

• Short Essay on a House on Fire in 200 Words

Short Essay on a House on Fire in 400 Words

It was late at night, and a loud noise awakened me. My mother arrived at that same moment to wake me up. Due to faulty wiring, the house just across the street from mine caught fire. It was the home of my friend Roshan. My mother and I rushed over to assist and calm them.

Black flames erupted from various locations across his home. Firefighters were doing everything they could to put out the blaze. My father was assisting Roshan’s father in saving crucial documents. I learned that we must always keep an eye on our wiring and not be careless or postpone when it comes to critical tasks.

Short Essay on a House on Fire in 200 Words

It was late at night, and a racket broke my sleep. It was naturally dark, but when I uncurtained my windows, I saw glowing lights everywhere. At that very moment, my mother came to wake me up. I could spot my father outside the window along with other neighbours. The house opposite my house had caught fire due to bad wiring. It was my friend Roshan’s house.

My mother and I immediately went to help and console them. Black flames that looked like smoky giants came out from different parts of his house. Firefighters were working their best to put off the fire. My father, along with other neighbours, was helping Roshan’s father to save important documents, among other flammable objects.

The fire had broken into their kitchen, but the other part of the house that included Rohan room and his parents’ room were not heavily destroyed. For one week, Rohan and his family stayed with us in our apartment while their house got repainted and refurbished. Their house was in dire need of renovation, and it looks like the newest house on the street. I learnt that we must always check our wiring and neither be negligent nor procrastinate on important activities.

It began when I was softly treading in the fairyland. I say this because my sweet dream was suddenly broken, and I woke up to a haywire sight before me. I was in my father’s arms. He was grabbing me tightly, and we were on the run. I was wondering if the wicked fairies were chasing us.

Everything felt so hot, and I could smell a mixture of strong body odour stinking from our bodies. I decided it was too much to bear and decided to sleep again. I was forced to reopen my eyes in a matter of two minutes. This time it was the sound of loud alarms that wouldn’t allow my mind the peace it so deeply craved.

I decided to take a look around the vicinity. I didn’t have to do a lot of neck work. We were not running anymore. We ran outside of our house and came on the road. It was at this moment that I spotted the red trucks. The source of the loud alarm was this truck. It was a fire engine. Our class teacher taught us the fireman lesson yesterday.

She told us that firefighters are brave people who have the lives of the burning people without caring about their life. At that moment, I heard the sobs of my mother. She stood next to us. She was crying. I looked at her and put my hands forward. She took me in her arms and wrapped me tightly. At first, I couldn’t understand a word that she was saying. Eventually, it occurred to me that she was trying to say that our house was on fire and the firemen were trying to put it off. I was shocked! I looked forward to seeing my house burning.

Little by little, the fire was perishing and consuming the whole of it. There was only one fire engine. The neighbours were trying their best to help. My father, along with some of the neighbours, had rushed inside the house to save important documents among their precious things from getting destroyed. We were later told that the source of the fire was the poor wiring of the house.

We had been negligent on that account. Poor wiring is risky, and it somehow caused the fire. One thing leads to another. We are staying at my maternal grandparents’ house for the time being. Our house is getting painted again. We have changed the wiring.

Dear students, hopefully, after this lesson, you have a holistic idea of writing a narrative essay on a house on fire. I have tried to be as descriptive as possible in the given word limit. If you still have any doubts regarding this session, kindly let me know through the comment section below. To read more such essays on many important topics, keep browsing our website. 

Join us on Telegram to get the latest updates on our upcoming sessions. Thank you, see you again soon.

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A House On Fire Essay | Essay on A House On Fire for Students and Children in English

February 12, 2024 by Prasanna

A House On Fire Essay – Given below is a Long and Short Essay on A House On Fire of competitive exams, kids and students belonging to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. A House On Fire essay 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 words in English helps the students with their class assignments, comprehension tasks, and even for competitive examinations.

You can also find more Essay Writing articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

Short Essay on A House On Fire 300 Words for Kids and Students in English

One day, as I was returning from the playground, I saw a house on fire on the way. I rushed towards the burning house. When I reached there, I saw many people outside the house. Some of them were pouring buckets of water on the fire while others were throwing sand and dust. It was a horrible sight.

The house was a double-storeyed. Some of the inmates of the house were in the rooms on the first floor. They were crying for help as they were surrounded by the flames. The fire was spreading. Some of the inmates came out of the house with burns and injuries (blisters). But those, who were on the top floor, could not get out.

Meanwhile, the fire brigade arrived. The neighbours tried their level best to extinguish the fire but they could not. There was no fire extinguisher system in the house. The staff of the fire brigade fought bravely with the fierce flames. Water pipes were laid and the fire brigade officials made an effort to control the fire. One of the officials set a staircase that led to the windows of the upper storey. He took a great risk. He brought out the inmates and came down through the stairs amidst flames. The moment he got down along with two inmates, he fell down unconscious. The inmates whom he had rescued had severe burn injuries. They were immediately rushed to the nearest hospital in a serious condition.

The fire did great damage to the house. Clothes, furniture and other valuable articles were reduced to ashes. The fire brigade brought the fire under control after one hour of valiant efforts. When the flames were controlled, the house was found to be badly damaged. All the wooden materials were reduced to ashes. The kitchen, from where the fire had started, presented a dismal picture. The dining room, the drawing room and the store were badly damaged too.

But thank God that there was no loss of human life. After enquiry, it was found that the bursting of gas cylinder in the kitchen was the cause of the fire.

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Like a house on fire

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The Extensive Guide to Analysing ‘Like a House on Fire’ for English: Summary, Context & Themes

You’ve come to the right place! Here is a summary of ‘Like a House on Fire’, along with its key themes and a step-by-step guide on how to break down and ace your text analysis. 

We also threw in a FREE sample analysis table (also known as a TEE table ) and a sample paragraph for you!

So, let’s go and vamp up your essay!

Summary of Like a House on Fire by Cate Kennedy Key Characters Context  Themes Explored in Like a House on Fire  Analysis of Like a House on Fire by Cate Kennedy

Summary of Like a House on Fire by Cate Kennedy

This short story centres around an unnamed narrator , locked in a rocky relationship with his wife Claire and their kids .

It’s clear that previously they were very much in love with each other, yet have been going through a harsh period of disagreements and fights. Everything changes when the narrator is the victim of a work accident that leaves him unable to effectively move due to his back injury.

The doctor stresses the need for him not to engage in physical exertion, and naturally, his wife and kids must adjust to this new style of living . His wife, a nurse, has to take multiple shifts at work to help sustain the family given her husband is incapacitated, and the narrator is thus filled with shame. The narrator watches helplessly as his family struggles to look after him, unable to help himself.

He is relegated to the floor of the kitchen where he must lay to alleviate stress on his back, and is left home with the children (Sam, Evie and Ben).

It particularly pains him to watch his wife unload the heavy Christmas tree alone from the car, as the narrator seems fond of this time of year and considers it a family tradition.

Due to the fact that he is helpless, the narrator begins to suffer in his inaction, and decides to retrieve the box of Christmas decorations from the attic to decorate the Christmas tree with the children.

This is against the doctor’s advice, however, and sure enough, the protagonist ends up breaking the content of the box as he falls .  He manages to get back to the kitchen and asks his children to help him decorate with all that is left.

Claire arrives home tired and cannot stand the complaints of her husband about the mess in the house, despite them sharing a fun moment just before. She reminds her husband that he should have already recovered .

The narrator expands on the fact that his marriage is bipolar and volatile, “like a house on fire” that could burn down arbitrarily and unexpectedly. 

While having dinner with his children one night, the narrator regrets the fact that they are growing up too quickly , and shares a wholesome moment with his eldest son, that is interrupted by further pain.

Access Like a House on Fire by Cate Kennedy Downloadable Sample Paragraph and Examples of Analysis here!

The narrator does not let this break the moment, however. The narrator gets his tired wife to stand on his back to help with the pain , she jokingly accepts, then proceeds by sharing a final wholesome moment with her husband. 

Also studying Fahrenheit 451 for English? Check out our top 50 quotes for your Fahrenheit 451 analysis here !

Key Characters

The narrator A strange reversal in traditional family roles occurs for the narrator. Being unable to provide financially for his family due to his work injury, the narrator takes care of his children from a much closer proximity, a role that his wife had been performing due to her erratic shifts. This is a source of discomfort for the narrator, who is unable to reconcile his new responsibilities with the role that societally he is supposed to play. He believes he is no good at his new role and thus feels insecure and frustrated. His development as a character centres around him coming to terms with his injury and accepting a fate that he himself cannot change and thus learning to live with it. His wife is instrumental in making this happen, as their conflict makes him realise her importance both to the family and to his physical and mental wellbeing. Essentially, the narrator is trying to battle a sense of chaos that has entered his life, and that he must come to terms with.

Claire As the wife of the narrator, her character works as a foil. This means she presents herself to be the opposite to the narrator. This is due to the fact she has to heavily adjust her life due to his injury , and essentially take his place as the main financial provider. This is a factor that contributes to increased relationship pressures and increased tensions between her and the narrator, hence the frequent disagreements. Due to her role as a nurse, the shifts she takes have a debilitating effect on her . Furthermore, when she is physically taking care of him, she assumes a cold and detached professional personality, as if she were at her job . This greatly distresses the narrator, and pushes him away.

Ben Given the importance of Christmas as a tradition in the family , the narrator is concerned by how much his eight year old son is growing up. The narrator remarks a great change in Ben’s attitude from one year to another, as he becomes much more sceptical and disillusioned with many aspects of life, as well as family activities.

‘Like a House on Fire’ was written in 2012 during the full swing of Australian modernisation .

This was a time when human beings had to search and redefine themselves , as well as their relationships with others and new technologies, to embrace the new modern world .

‘Like a House on Fire’ is no different. Your analysis will be guided by how Kennedy explores the change in gender roles, the rocky aspects of a relationship, and the compromise and learning necessary to make it work. The characters are required to come to terms with, and figure out, moral and social challenges. 

Kennedy enjoys writing in familiar scenarios , to force audiences to look deeper amongst activities and things that seem ordinary for meaning. This reflects her own lifestyle , just like any other person. This, in turn, makes her storytelling extremely familiar and relatable to audiences, as well as inviting. 

Themes Explored in Like a House on Fire 

Masculinity.

An interesting dynamic characterises this story. The narrator is forced out of the typical masculine role he performs due to his injury, and thus has to face the fact that the primary financial carer for the family becomes his wife.

The issue isn’t one of position, but rather of acceptance . For example, the narrator struggles to accept that it’s his wife that has to carry the Christmas tree out of the car by herself.

He struggles to accept that she has to take more shifts at work, he struggles with his own children, and realises all of a sudden they’ve been growing up fast and that time has rushed by, hence his shock when learning that Ben no longer believes in Santa and is disinterested in family activities .

Forced out of his masculinity, the narrator finds himself in a sudden chaos that he did not foresee. 

Order VS Chaos

Let’s get back to the idea of foils here. The narrator can be seen to represent order , given the meticulousness and care he takes while working on his job.

This is evident in the care he demands when overseeing maintenance of trees, and reveals his almost perfectionist nature . He is also very much addicted to control and neatness. Hence why he complains about the mess in the house and his obstinateness wanting to carry the Christmas tree. He feels sorry for himself being thrown into the chaos of domestic life, and thus wants to be a central part of whatever else is going on despite being physically unable to.

If the narrator represents order, then Claire — as a foil to him — represents chaos .

Claire is more comfortable with the inevitable mess that family life entails, that she is very capable to cope with, because she herself is described to be very like her children in terms of her neatness. This is yet another factor that puts husband and wife in contention.

The writer is thus trying to highlight the duality and friction between order and chaos , and the need of balance between the two for life to work — h ence, why the two main characters have to reconcile with each other in order to move on. 

Relationships

Kennedy packs all the difficulties of a relationship into a short story that only spans a couple of days.

We see the couple wrestle with insecurities on both sides : the narrator with his new place in the family taking care of the children, and Claire with her new responsibilities, as she has to financially take on the burden, ultimately putting pressure on her.

There is also the struggle with the children, and time passing by so fast . The narrator finds himself disoriented when he is forced to come to terms with the fact that his children are growing up, and that their childhood is almost over.

Want to know what the best quotes for your Like a House on Fire analysis? Read our top 50 quotes in Like a House on Fire here !

Finally, there is the foil dynamic between the two parents , who are incredibly different one from the other.

How to Analyse Like a House on Fire in 3 Steps

Step 1: choose your example.

The best way to choose an example is to choose a technique .

Remember you must include stylistic devices (how images and words are arranged in a text in order to produce meaning), and aesthetic features (elements that prompt a critical response from the reader) in your essays to gain the most marks. 

In this case we will use the quote:

“I saw… an errant bit of cypress bow just at head height, offending my perfectionist streak.”

Step 2: Identify your technique(s) 

‘Like a House on Fire’ centres an awful lot on the dynamic between Claire and the narrator, one representing chaos, and another representing order — hence why c haracterisation here is extremely important , as well as foils, to explore the themes.

The above quote is a personification of a cypress branch ‘offending’ the perfectionism of the arrangement. This is revealing of the narrator, as it highlights his mania for order.

Want to outshine all the other Like a House on Fire essays? Find out unique techniques in our comprehensive list of language features here !

Coupling this with Claire’s chaotic nature , we uncover the dynamic of the relationship. 

Step 3: Write the analysis

Always be ready to ask yourself what the author intended you to feel/respond emotionally by reading the example quote.

T his will make sure that you tackle an important part of the analysis for Like a House on Fire, which is the effect on the reader .

Kennedy employs the use of personification to define the orderly and perfectionist nature of the narrator, and contrast it with the chaotic predisposition of his wife. The narrator laments the irregularity of “ an errant bit of cypress bow just at head height, offending my perfectionist streak.” Audiences are encouraged to recognise themselves in such a struggle, and in the final resolution of it by the end of the story. 

Step 4: Practise with sample essay questions

Even if you’ve written an incredible essay, if you don’t respond to the question or stimulus that you’re given in an exam, you could miss out on a Band 6.

Luckily for you, we’ve got plenty of practise questions on our resources page for you to use!

Here are Practise Questions for the Year 11 Common Module to get you started!

Need some help analysing other texts?

Check out other texts we’ve created guides for below:

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• Run Lola Run
• After Darkness
• Journey of the Magi
• Shafana and Aunt Sarinnah
• Rhapsody on a Windy Night
• I Felt a Funeral in a Brain
• Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History
• Nick and the Candlestick
• ‘Red’ by Ted Hughes

Are you looking for some extra help with your analysis of Like a House on Fire by Cate Kennedy?

We have an incredible team of english tutors and mentors.

We can help you master your analysis of Like a House on Fire by taking you through the summary, context and themes. We’ll also help you ace your upcoming English assessments with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or online!

We’ve supported over  8,000 students over the last 11 years , and on average our students score mark improvements of over 20%!

Give us a ring on 1300 267 888, email us at  [email protected]  or check us out on  TikTok !

Vittorio Manessi is an Art of Smart tutor based in Queensland studying environmental science. He was one of the first Year 12 students to study under the new ATAR system in Queensland. He enjoys Maths, Science, English and Ancient History and is keen to share his knowledge of the QCE by making awesome resources.

• Topics: ✏️ English , ✍️ Learn

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Essay On A House on Fire

• Post category: Essay
• Reading time: 11 mins read

Set 1: Essay On A House on Fire

One night, before I went to sleep at 10,30 p.m., I heard a cry of alarm. I looked out of my window. I saw a building on the opposite side of the street was on fire. My father and I rushed to the spot.

All kinds of people young and old were rushing out of the burning building. Some of them were in their nightclothes. They had been asleep when the fire broke out. Some were carrying small bundles containing their money and valuables. They had snatched these and rushed out to save their lives. The flames shot high up in the air. Clouds of black smoke rose in the sky. There was a red glow that could be seen for miles around. Some people were trapped inside the building. They had been asleep and had no time to escape. We could hear their cries of distress.

Soon the Fire Brigade arrived on the scene. They placed tall ladders against the walls and rescued the people who were trapped in the building. Then they directed their water hose on the fire and tried to put out the flames. They fought the fire very bravely for four hours. At last it was brought under control.

The fire was controlled, but not before it had done great damage. About three floors of the building had collapsed. Many families were homeless. They had lost almost everything they had. It was an unfortunate accident.

Set 2: Essay On A House on Fire

In the evening of last Sunday I found that the house of our neighbour had caught fire. The flames were rising to the sky. Suddenly I heard shouts of “Fire, Fire!” I woke up at once and looked out in the street. I saw a house on fire.

I ran downstairs and reached the place. Many people had collected there. They were running with buckets full of water and bags full of sand. What a terrible scene I saw that day!

But it did not prove of much help. A strong wind was blowing. Some cries were heard from inside the house. The house belonged to a doctor.

Soon some fire-engines reached the spot. Two firemen entered the burning house. They helped the doctor’s family to come out. Fortunately no one was killed.

The fire was brought under control. The building was reduced to ashes. The shopkeeper had suffered a great loss. It was a very fearful sight.

Set 3: Essay On A House on Fire

I was fast asleep yesterday night in my room. It was 12 a.m. All of a sudden, I was awakened by a loud commotion and the noise of footsteps. The people were crying “fire”! “fire”! I got up and looked outside the window. I saw that the house of our neighbour was on fire.

I ran down the stairs and joined the crowd that had gathered outside the burning house. The house was completely engulfed in the flames, which were leaping to the sky. There was a big cloud of smoke. The owner was shocked and very nervous. He was too stunned to speak any words. Some women were crying and hurrying here and there. They did not know what to do.

There was a great excitement and endless hurry. Some people were throwing sand on the fire and others were bringing buckets full of water. I also joined them and we tried our best to put out the fire. However, we could not do much to bring the fire under control.

Soon the fire brigade arrived and the firemen rushed out. They immediately started fighting the fire. They fought the fire bravely and whole-heartedly and brought it under control in about one hour.

There was a great loss of property but luckily, there was no loss of life. The fire had started due to an electric short-circuit. Everyone present there sympathised with the affected family. It was really an unlucky day which I cannot forget for a long time. Sometimes, man has no control over such calamities which cause massive destruction of property.

Set 4: Essay On A House on Fire

Fire is a good servant but a bad master. Like all other accidents, fire accidents also usually take place because of some human failure.

The result is, however, disasterous. Fire spreads quickly and can cause huge loss to life and property. A terrible fire accident took place in my neighbourhood last week.

It was midnight. I was having a sound sleep on the roof of the house. Suddenly, I head the cries, “Fire! Fire!” At first, I thought I was only dreaming. But soon I heard a loud noise and the sound of heavy footsteps in the street. I stood up from my bed and looked around. It did not take me much time in realizing that the house of a wealthy merchant some seven or eight houses away was on fire as the sky was all lit with flames and fiery sparks.

I scampered downstairs in no time and rushed to the venue of the fire. The shining, sharp-tongued flames were bursting out of every nook and corner of the palatial house. The owners were on the street. They were beating their breasts helplessly. Their half-burnt household articles were lying scattered here and there. A large crowd of people had gathered there. Some were bringing buckets full of water and sand. The others were emptying the same on flames, but in vain.

It was discovered that the little child of the merchant was left in the house. The child’s mother was trying to rush towards the burning house and the people were holding her back. Spontaneously I rushed inside the house at great risk of my life and brought the child unharmed in my arms. I got some burns which were later cured in a hospital.

All the people held their breath. The child’s mother sobbed and hugged the baby. She kissed my forehead, saying, “My son!” She could not even utter words to thank me. Meanwhile two fire brigade engines arrived and brought the fire under control in about an hour. The adjoining houses were fortunately saved. Loss to property was estimated at four lakhs, but thank God, there was no loss of life.

It was then learnt that the embers left burning in the hearth which was placed in the courtyard had caused the fire, the softly blowing wind having further fanned it.

Set 5: Essay On A House on Fire

As we all know “fire” can be your friend and also your worst enemy. From early times when man found he could light a fire, he made good use of it. Today we often hear of forest fires and houses being burned to the ground.

Once in the early hours of the morning I was awakened by loud shouts of “Fire! Fire”. I got out of bed and ran downstairs and into the street.

I thought our house was on fire, but I soon realized it was the second building from ours that was on fire.

A number of people were already there, looking at the fourth storey from where thick clouds of smoke were gushing out of every window. People were screaming and children were crying. I was so frightened that my legs couldn’t move and my hands seemed to be stuck to my sides. This was my first and most horrible experience of seeing a house on fire.

Before I reached the street, someone must have phoned the Fire Brigade, because within a short time six fire engines arrived with bells clanging. The firemen wasted no time in releasing the hose pipe and spraying water on the building. While this was being done, tall ladders were raised up to the fourth floor and men climbed through the windows to try and get to the people trapped inside.

It was a miracle that the fire did not spread much and within an hour it was extinguished. A few people were injured some were choked by the smoke while others were in shock. The burn victims were taken to the hospital for treatment. It was hours later that people returned to their homes

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Like a House on Fire

Cate kennedy, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

The Rotary guy [...] gives me a look he reserves for shirkers, layabouts, vandals and those destroying the social fabric by refusing to pull their weight.

“Every sheep and cow, every adoring shepherd, broken. Only the baby Jesus in his crib, one leg raised in that classic nappy-changing pose, remains miraculously unscathed.”

That motion, swinging and lifting my arm to full stretch, feels like someone has taken a big ceramic shard out of the box—a remnant bit of shepherd, maybe, or a shattered piece of camel—and is stabbing it into the base of my spine.

Some days it feels like that's my entire identity focused there in one single space between two injured segments of a bone puzzle, shrunk down to one locus of existence, and seized there.

Footsteps, muttering, the sound of fingers stirring through ceramic debris. A tightly constrained hiss of frustration and fury. You get good at listening to sounds in a household when you're prone; it gets so you can almost hear a head shaking in pained disbelief, or distant teeth grinding in the silence.

A long while has passed since we'd made jokes […] I can't remember the last time my wife touched me with hands that were anything except neutral and businesslike […] It was a side to her I was seeing for the first time, this professional, acquired distance. At our house, in our script, Claire was the slapdash one.

“Look,' she says, 'either tell Sam to get it out, or forget about it. Just give the martyrdom and control freakery a rest.”

Listening to the two of us, you'd never believe that we used to get on like a house on fire, that even after we had the kids, occasionally we'd stay up late, just talking. 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 licking their way up into the wall cavities; this faint, acrid smell of smoke. And suddenly, before you know it, everything threatening to go roaring out of control […] And what am I? The guy who can't get the firetruck started? The one turning and turning the creaking tap, knowing the tank is draining empty, the one with the taste of ash in his mouth and all this black and brittle aftermath?

I look at her, feeling that small heat build between us. Our breaths fuelling it, close to the ground. This is how you do it, I think, stick by careful stick over the ashes, oxygen and fuel, a controlled burn.

Like a House on Fire

By cate kennedy, like a house on fire summary and analysis of "sleepers".

The story begins with the protagonist, Ray, sitting in traffic, which rarely exists in his small town. But developers from out of town are redoing the roads, and now there's a line of cars. Kennedy describes Ray's stalled, languished state of mind as mirroring the traffic. He thinks that if the developers were from the town, he could be working on a road crew right now; but they're not, so instead he works a part-time job and lives in his friend's shed. Seeing the road crew reminds him of the time he and his ex-girlfriend, Sharon, were driving to his sister's place for a barbecue, and they were also faced with traffic and a road crew. In the memory, a man holding a stop sign lets traffic through little by little, and Sharon comments on how the job must be the easiest out there. Ray feels like this comment is meant to be a subtle dig at him, because he used to work on a road crew. He replies by explaining how the job does, actually, have its challenges. People harass the sign holder, sometimes even run them down.

Ray then reflects on the end of their relationship. When Sharon broke up with him, he hadn't seen it coming, but to her, it was so obviously not working. In the moment, when he assumes she's moving out, "she’d rolled her eyes like he was the thickest kid in the class. ‘Not me, Ray,’ she’d said. ‘You. You’re the one moving out’" (128-129).

Ray finally rolls up to the sign-holder, acknowledges him, and drives on. The word SLOW drills into his brain as he watches the sign turn, let a few cars through, turn to stop, and turn back again. This monotonous process repeats until Ray passes through. Up ahead, he hears the loud cracks and rumbles of excavators breaking ground. He thinks he'll definitely be late for work, but he doesn't care. "So what if he was late?" Kennedy writes. "How many nested imitation terracotta pots could the public want in one morning?" (129)

Later that day, Ray finds himself at the pub with a few of his friends. They're all discussing the new development, particularly the fact that in tearing up the railroad tracks, the developers have made stacks of redgum railroad sleepers—long, wooden beams that Ray's friend Frank is sure would make fantastic firewood. The developers have cordoned off the area with orange flags, and the men in the pub agree that they're trying to salvage the wood to resell. If it were a local developer, the men are certain that they would allow residents to help themselves to the wood, but Frank has faith that people will take matters into their own hands. "You watch this town," he says. "Winter coming on and a pile of scrap wood like that. A little string of orange flags isn’t gunna stop anyone" (131). Talking about the sleepers makes Ray think about how his ex, Sharon, always wanted to do some landscaping to their house. Ray had seen yards trimmed with redgum sleepers and thought it looked quite nice, but he never saw the point in landscaping the yard of a rental home.

For weeks, Ray hears his friends and co-workers brag about how they've variously managed to take some of the redgum for themselves. They give him advice on how he should go about it. His friend, Steve, lines his yard with the sleepers, and Ray sees his handiwork at a barbecue that night. Ray admires Steve's work as Steve turns steaks on the grill. Ray feels awkward and lethargic, and Steve notices and asks him if everything is okay. Ray thinks to himself that he should probably get a blood test, exercise, diet—generally take care of himself. He can feel himself being observed by the women at the barbecue—wives and long-term girlfriends. He realizes that he's the only single one among his friends.

He reflects on earlier that evening, when he drove by Sharon's house. There was a car in her driveway, and Ray thinks it must mean that she's moved on. He thinks that he should probably move on too. That perhaps if she hears he's moved on, she'd contact him. Ray takes stock of his situation and concludes that he's not a very appealing option to the women around. They all know he's provisionally employed and that he lives in his friend's shed. The living arrangement began as a temporary thing, but slowly Ray has made the shed his home, adding a rug, furniture, and a space heater. He tells himself he's there to save money until he gets back on his feet and recovers from the breakup, but it becomes less temporary by the day.

As Ray ruminates around the barbecue, Steve's teenage son Sean calls him over. Sean is looking at the sky through a telescope, and he asks Ray to take a look. Steve calls over that it's not dark enough yet, but Ray looks anyways. Sean thinks he sees Mars through the telescope. Ray sees a blur of something in the sky. As he stands there with Steve's son, he thinks about when his father had a heart attack, "the way he'd staggered across the lounge room, his arm out, wordless" (135). Ray makes a passing commitment to calling the doctor the following day for a check-up.

After he leaves Steve's house, he considers driving past Sharon's place, where they used to live together. He imagines how she'd react to him pulling up to her driveway, and concludes that she would simply dismiss him as "just Ray" to whomever she's with. Ray then considers driving to the construction site and taking a few sleepers for himself. He imagines bringing the pile of sleepers to Sharon and building little flowerbeds with them, filling the beds with mulch to plant a garden, the way she always wanted him to when they were together.

He drives to the site and parks near the stacks of wood, get's a pair of work gloves from the bed of his ute, and loads the bed with ten sleepers. He thinks this should be more than acceptable, given the amount of wood he's heard about other people taking. After he finishes loading, he stands back to admire his work, and as he's looking at his truck full of wood, a police cruiser rolls up near him, blue lights quietly flashing. Kennedy writes, "he knew that they wouldn’t bother with their siren, because they could see that it was just him. Just Ray. They knew he’d turn around like this, and take what was coming to him" (138-140). The story concludes with the image of Ray standing down, awaiting arrest, and gazing at the pile of wood that would now be sold by the developer, instead of put to use by him.

Although the name of the town is never mentioned, Kennedy particularly evokes a sense of what Barry Lopez calls "literature of place" in "Sleepers," which, on the surface, is the story of a man in his mid-thirties struggling to get back on his feet after his girlfriend breaks up with him and he moves into his friend's shed. From an aerial view, though, the story expresses the fighting spirit and resilience—and at times the futile resistance—of a rural Australian town against encroaching corporate developers.

The story engages in parallelism in the sense that both the town and Ray are at a transitional moment, a juncture that will, depending on how they respond to the prompts to change, determine their indefinite future. Both the town and Ray toy with the prospect of their agency. Ray passively thinks about his "bottomed-out energy, the sapped, exhausted feeling as he watched Steve turning steaks on the grill," and as a way to address this, thinks, "he'd go and have a check-up. A blood test" (132). Later on during Steve's barbecue, Steve's teenage son, Sean, calls Ray over to look at what he thinks is Mars through his telescope, and Ray's sensory encounter of the boy puts him in physical distress: "The smell of him—grass and suncscreen, sweat and energy, all of it barely contained—registered in Ray's head with a sudden painful awareness. This shortness of breath, the pressure on his chest ... He thought of his old man's heart attack, the way he'd staggered crabwise across the lounge room, his arm out, wordless. Take him five weeks to get a doctor's appointment, anyway. He'd ring tomorrow" (135).

In addition to these moments of Ray fixating on his health, we also have moments where he fixates on how his ex-girlfriend, Sharon, would receive him if he tried to get back together with her. He imagines her dismissing him, imagines his own humiliation as she downplays his existence to the new person in her life. He imagines solutions, too—similar to the blood test and phoning the doctor—in which he could steal the redgum sleepers and landscape her yard like she always wanted him to do while they were together. However, these solutions are pre-determined to fail by Ray's own imagination. The same with his concerns about his health—the notion that even if he calls, it'll take five weeks to get an appointment, and the sense that he probably won't call at all, just like his promise that living in his friend's shed would only be temporary. To top off the fatalism, Ray remembers his father's heart attack, the moment of which Kennedy portrays in subtle, but aching detail. This gesture to Ray's genetic predisposition to heart failure introduces an inevitability to his personal narrative that we can then map onto the greater inevitability of corporate development of Ray and his friends' rural Australian town.

The town's collective effort to resist total domination and disregard by the corporate interlopers by stealing the redgum sleepers is, in a sense, similar to Ray's vague promise to himself to call a doctor, or to make amends with Sharon—grand but ultimately hollow gestures. The final line of story—"He waited there for them, next to the sleepers, lowering his bare hands for comfort onto weathered, solid old redgum, hauled up and discarded but with so much life in it, still, it just broke your heart to see it go to waste" (140)—gestures literally, of course, to the redgum wood, but also both to Ray and to the small town, waiting, powerlessly, but with a defiant spirit, to be "wasted" by the forces of time and capitalism.

Like a House on Fire Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Like a House on Fire is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Why does this make their father sad?

THe fact that he is no longer mobile because of his bad back. He cannot even help lift the Christmas tree onto the car.

What caused Frank's inability to get around in Flexion?

Frank was weakened by pneumonia.

What is suggested about resilience in this story? Are husband and wife both fighters?

Which of the stories in the book does your question pertain to?

Study Guide for Like a House on Fire

Like a House on Fire study guide contains a biography of Cate Kennedy, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Like a House on Fire
• Like a House on Fire Summary
• Character List

Lesson Plan for Like a House on Fire

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Like a House on Fire
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Like a House on Fire Bibliography