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Fire and Ice is one of Robert Frost's
shortest poems.
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It introduces to the reader the profound idea that the
world could end in one of two ways, with fire or ice, through desire or hate.
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Fire is desire, ice is hate.
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Frost has
introduced the narrator to provide his personal view on the question of the end
of the world.
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The narrator after
considering his personal experience with desire and passion, first concludes
that the world must end in fire.
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Yet, after
considering his experience with “ice,” or hatred, the narrator acknowledges
that ice would be equally destructive. These powerful emotions can drag the
world toward a catastrophic end.
The central theme
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The central theme of "Fire and Ice" is that
human emotions are destructive when allowed to get out-of-control. They can
destroy a person morally; they can destroy him mentally and physically.
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Not frequently, unbridled emotions—such as those of an
Adolf Hitler—can destroy entire countries and even threaten to destroy
civilization itself.
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Terrorists driven by hatred could destroy a
civilization or even end the world
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Fire stands for greed, conflict, avarice, fury,
cruelty, lust.
ü Ice stands for insensitivity, coldness, intolerance, indifference, rigidity, hatred.
Main Points of the Poem
1. 1. On the basis of what people say the poet concludes that this world of ours will come to an end.
2. 2. The end will occur by two highly contrasting but powerful elements of nature — fire and ice.
3. 3. Then the poet links these two powerful natural elements to human beings and their emotions.
4.4. He links the element of fire to desires or passions.
5. 5. The uncontrolled fire of passion and desire may lead us to the end of this world.
6. 6. Then, the poet comes to the second alternative that can cause the end of this world. It is ‘ice’ which can also cause the end of the world.
7. 7. In terms of human emotion, ice means ‘hate’ created by ‘cold reasoning’.
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