The motif of fire and arson functions as an externalization of violence and hatred, often specifically referring to Creighton’s internal turmoil and methodical quest for revenge. Fire is a force of both calculated destruction and uncontrollable consumption, mirroring the dual nature of Creighton’s personality and his relationship with his trauma. Annika first identifies the intruder in her room by the “smell of something spicy and soot” (5), immediately linking him to a destructive, fiery element before she recognizes him. She later learns he started the fire there for his cousin Landon, who asks him to commit these crimes in exchange for information about his parents.

This indicates how Landon represents his most destructive impulses and his uncontrollable desire to avenge the suffering he experienced as a child. Later, after Landon reveals the truth of his parents’ deaths, Creighton describes his anger and confusion as a “wildfire” that leads him to attempt to kill Jeremy in revenge. When his parents urge him to let his vendetta go after awaking from a coma, the “hot fire” in his chest spreads, and he asserts that he cannot. This motif only fades after the novel’s climax, when he abandons his need for revenge and chooses Annika instead. His journey is thus centered around dousing the metaphorical fire and moving beyond the trauma and anger that drives him in order to keep the relationships he now finds more important.