Muck Fire Analysis

Paul’s development, Lake Windsor Downs, struggles with muck fires, robberies and bugs. After each problem starts to surface, the development owner Mr. Costello tries to come up with a solution. His attempts to solve these issues always end up causing more problems. To start, Lake Windsor Downs suffers from muck fires. “ ‘Right out there. It’s the muck fire.’ ‘It’s the what?’ ‘Muck fire, ma’am. That field probably got hit by lightning last night. Stirred up the muck fire. ‘ ‘Last night? So… how long is this fire going to burn?’ The young man laughed out loud and threw up his hands. ‘It’s been burning for as long as I can remember,’ ” (Bloor 15). The author continues to write on page 16, “ ‘Muck fires don’t go out. They’re burning all the time.’ ” As you can see, the muck fire in Lake Windsor Downs has always been a problem, and since there is a problem, there has to be a solution. In this case, the solution is to create a swamp to try to flood out the fire. “ ‘We said, ‘Why don’t you pour water on
On page 158, the author writes, “ ‘For those of you who don’t know, five of the houses that were tented for bugs have been robbed of jewelry, watches, and other valuables.’ ” Not only is jewelry being taken but so are the koi fish. “ ‘The koi appear to be all gone. We’re not sure why, but we think someone may have stolen them,’ ” (Bloor 157). The solution to these robberies is to hire guards and a detective to figure out who is committing the crimes. Although this crime is not solved by the detective, the crime does get figured out by Paul’s mother. “ ‘These items were stolen by Erik Fisher and Arthur Bauer. They have admitted as much. They have had no choice but to admit it. Arthur used the gas mask to enter the tented homes. Then he stole items from those homes while Erik kept watch outside,’ ” (Bloor 280). The case was solved and Erik and Arthur were