The Jeep is such a powerful symbol in Wildfire that it is almost a character in its own right. Sam often personifies it, thinking of it as his friend and savior. He even feels “like the machine [is] taking care of [him]. Like it [has] been waiting for a chance to save [his] life” (133). It is a symbol of hope and Sam’s Survival and Resilience Through Crisis. Because it was originally used by an American soldier in an overseas war, it is also thematically connected to Sam’s father. It guides and helps him as he escapes the fire, just like his father might have done if he were alive.

Although Sam feels like the Jeep is keeping him alive through a kind of magic, the truth is that he is the one who figured out how to drive it. He externalizes his own accomplishments onto the Jeep instead of taking credit for his own survival. At the story’s end, the Jeep becomes an important reward for Sam, as he is gifted the Jeep and looks forward to driving it when he turns 16. This detail parallels a conversation that Sam had with his dad when he was eight years old.