Themes in The Great Fire

Question 6 • 2025/26 IGC-English II - Prescriptive

Which excerpt from The Great Fire supports the theme that nature is a powerful force that can be extremely destructive?

Answer

“At its fiercest, such a whirlwind could rip a roof off a house and pick up the building's contents.”

“The stronger winds, the ones people remembered the best, were probably caused by rising convective heat.”

“Chamberlin was too tired to fight his way across just then, so he crawled up onto one of the bridge's arched railings.”

“Claire Innes, Joseph Chamberlin . . . had . . . seen mass panic, crime, and acts of violence.”

Explanation

Choice A describes a powerful whirlwind ripping a roof off a house and lifting the building’s contents. These details show nature acting with great force and causing serious destruction. The other excerpts discuss wind, a person on a bridge, or human violence without showing nature’s destructive power as directly.

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