of imagery, symbol and metaphor inform a reading of the novel as much as character or plot. The novel starts with an image of a man on fire falling from the air to earth and then investigates why this has happened and the identity of the man. The plot moves back and forth, incorporating a series of related images - fire, scars, mutilated hands, bombs, warfare and healing as well as a fascination with esoteric knowledge. Added to this are the four main characters who together form another image: a constellation, perhaps, of the four elements, but essentially fire. On another level the novel operates on symbolism, with the desert and water, books, names, paintings, mirrors and religious symbolism all being essential parts that signify central ideas in the text. Fire is the central symbol in the novel. The English patient falls burning from the sky ('I fell burning into the desert. I flew down and the sand itself caught fire. 5') and the narrative revolve around his burnt body. Hana is devoted to her patient as her own father had died of burns: 'So burned the buttons of his shirt were part of his skin, part of his dear chest.' Caravaggio also while escaping is thrown into a burning river ('He swam up to the surface, parts of which were on fire.') and his ascent through burning water parallels and inverts The English patient's descent on fire. And Kip works each day as a sapper with the threat of