King of Envy

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence.

Fire is a personal symbol for Vuk, which mirrors his emotional growth and psychological resiliency. For most of the story, Vuk associates fire with personal pain and suffering, as it refers back to the fire that killed Lazar and left him without a family. More than the Brotherhood, it is fire that triggers a deep-seated fear for Vuk, and he often uses it as hyperbole to designate fear, such as when he states, “two junior marketers were already inside [the elevator], but when they saw me, they leapt out as if it were on fire” (114). Though he has been able to enact his revenge and instill fear within the Brotherhood, fire has nevertheless left a lasting reminder in the form of his neck scars and pyrophobia.

It is particularly telling, therefore, that when the Brotherhood—through Roman—tries to kill Vuk a second time, they once again try to use fire as their weapon, both because of Vuk’s fear of it and as an effort to rectify their failed attempt to kill him the first time. In the end, however, fire becomes a rite of passage for Vuk as he is once again confronted with a situation similar to his brother’s murder—that is, where a blazing fire separates him and someone he loves from safety.