Jerri has a bonfire two years after Steven’s death, ostensibly to help Felton and Andrew “let go of the past” (12). She tells Andrew that “the only way to move forward is to destroy the past” (224). Jerri holds the bonfire to rid herself of painful memories and to help her suppress the truth about Steven’s unpleasant personality. The bonfire represents Jerri’s “unhealthy” method of coping with emotional problems.

Fires often symbolize purification, transforming negative to positive, from polluted to pure. Jerri hoped that by burning physical objects she would also cleanse Steven from her mind. The fire does not give Jerri a clean start, or rebirth, but represents a failed attempt to deny the past, which continues to fester and ultimately leads to a decline in Jerri’s mental health. As Felton comments, “You can’t burn memories, Jerri. I guess you know that now” (12). Even during her mental health crisis, Jerri continues to try and eliminate physical reminders of past pain. She burns the wedding photo album Andrew discovers to keep him from “torturing her” into acknowledging the past.

Andrew’s fire, in which he burns “artifacts of [his] past” (165), expresses his emotional pain in his attempt to frighten Jerri into telling him the truth.