Ryker Huizinga Huizinga 1

Dr. Valerie Peterson

Com 202: Critical Interpretation

February 3, 2014

Passion is Fire

Love is beautiful, but it can lead to disaster; love can be healing, but it also causes great

pain. To put it simply, love is quite perplexing. The meaning of love depends on one’s personal

experience with it, and though the feeling of love unites us as humans, it can be incredibly

difficult to define. Passion, a driving force of love and romantic interest, is equally complicated.

Without realizing it, often times we employ metaphors to help us better understand difficult

concepts like love and passion. In Metaphors We Live By, George Lakoff and Mark Johnson

state that “metaphor is pervasive in everyday life,” explaining that “our ordinary conceptual

system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.”

Considering this, I believe that passion, as it relates to love, desire and romance, is often viewed

as fire.

Though metaphors go beyond language, affecting our thoughts and actions, one can often

find common verbal expressions that indicate metaphorical concepts that play a role in everyday

life. Expressions like “He had a burning desire,” “There was a spark of interest,” “Their

relationship had burnt out,” and “She was his old flame,” are evidence that, in our culture,

passion is fire. This metaphor is especially prevalent in poetry and music. Whether you hear

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Bruno Mars sing, “I’m sweating with desire, it feels like I’m on fire,” or Elvis Presley profess,

“Girl, you’re going to set me on fire… I’m just a hunk of burning love,” it’s apparent that hot,

all-consuming flames influence our understanding of passion. This particular metaphor is

ontological, meaning it enables us to view events, activities, emotions and ideas as entities or

substances (Lakoff & Johnson, p. 25). Therefore, we use our experience with a physical entity,

fire, to better understand the strong emotional urges of passion.

Passion can relate to desirous, lustful infatuation, or meaningful and trusting love. The

enthusiastic pursuit of either experience, lust or love, is driven by passion. Fire relates to our

feelings of passion because, like a romantic relationship that grows stronger as more experiences

are shared, a small fire will grow larger and stronger if it is properly and consistently fueled.

Similarly, like a passionate relationship can end, a fire can also burn out. Lustful passion can be a

small, fast-burning flame; fleeting desires that lead to encounters like one-night stands are meant

to be temporary. However, passionate love with proper commitment can be a blazing fire that

continues the burn for a long time. Despite this, long distance relationships and other forms of

separation sometimes make it difficult to keep the passion alive. The fiery passion of a long term

relationship may eventually burn out if it does not get enough fuel.

Though fire is a physical entity, it can have different meanings depending on the context

of the situation. For example, fire may be seen as a destructive, dangerous force, such as a forest

fire or a house fire; it may also be considered a welcomed source of warmth, like a campfire.

These various meanings of fire extend the “passion is fire” metaphor, and each extension

highlights different aspects of passion. The “passion is a destructive fire” metaphor emphasizes

the uncontrollable, powerful, dangerous and often times exciting urges of passion. This type of

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passion, like a house fire, usually is not started intentionally, though if it is started on purpose,

the reasons could be criminal. Destructive fire can be excessive, and in many cases it highlights

lustful passion. Much like a raging, uncontrolled fire, a relationship born out of lustful passion

and sexual encounters without trust or commitment can be dangerous and potentially harmful to

one’s emotional and physical health. However, like fire can be controlled and managed to serve

a beneficial purpose, one can also practice self-control to manage, restrain and master his

passion. In doing so, one could be acting on the metaphor “passion is a campfire.” The process of

creating a campfire begins slowly, but with the right structure and fuel, the little flames can be

cultivated into a strong fire. There can be a cooperative aspect to building a campfire as well.

This illustrates how two people can use their passion for each other to build a strong relationship.

Just as a campfire grows larger when one makes the effort to fuel it, a close relationship can be

cultivated as two people spend time, express feelings and share other experiences together. Just

like a caring, passionate relationship is mutually beneficial, a campfire provides warmth and

safety, meeting the needs of those around it. Maturity, trust and commitment to properly fuel and

maintain boundaries are all necessary in cultivating a campfire and passion in a stable, love-

based relationship. Like a campfire that is started deliberately and kept within certain limits, the

passions of one in a relationship must be kept within boundaries that assure he stays respectful

and faithful. Though campfires are usually much safer than destructive fires, they can be equally

exciting.

If not fueled, a fire will die. A relationship may end because the once-blazing passion

between two people is no longer existent. However, a fire may also be put out by water. If one is

already in a relationship and does not want to succumb to every lustful whim, he may use self-

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control to quench the burning desires. One could also douse the flames of passion in his

relationship by acting unfaithfully or selfishly. At other times, you may have friends that serve as

firefighters, holding you accountable and making sure you do not make bad choices when it

comes to love, lust and relationships.

Much like fleeting feelings of lust and desire, fires are usually temporary. Though the

“passion is fire” metaphor highlights the excitement and power of passionate, burning love, it

also hides the important aspects of longevity and life-long commitment. We often act as if

passionate relationships are only for young couples, but truthfully, those that are bonded by

marriage should be romantically passionate as well. Though certainly not seen in many

marriages, the beauty of passionate pursuit can often be found in older couples that have been

together for decades. Passion can in fact be an ongoing fire, at least “till death do us part.”

One’s conceptual system is largely based on the culture he grew up in. “Passion is fire”

applies to our culture’s way of thinking because of how we view romance, dating, relationships

and love. If one lived in a society where marriages were forced or arranged, he may better

understand passion as danger or a forbidden fruit. One’s perspective is altered when he begins to

realize that the way he sees the world is greatly influenced by metaphor.

Sources:

Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson. "Concepts We Live By." Metaphors We Live by. Chicago:

University of Chicago, 1980. 3.

Lakoff, George, and Mark Johnson. "Ontological Metaphors." Metaphors We Live by. Chicago:

University of Chicago, 1980. 6.