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1-Page Summary of On Fire

Overall Summary

Set This House on Fire is a 1960 psychological novel by American essayist and novelist William Styron. It follows the adventures of Peter Leverett, an American lawyer who goes to Italy for vacation. There he meets Cass Kinsolving, another American who has some secrets that threaten his life. The book also includes vignettes from the memories of a troubled, alcoholic Southerner, Cass Kinsolving.

The novel starts after the events in Sambuco, Italy. Peter is still haunted by what happened, which includes a rape and murder of an Italian woman and suspiciously simultaneous death of his friend Mason Flagg. The authorities concluded that Mason raped and killed Francesca, then committed suicide. However, Peter knows that Mason was capable of sexual assault but not murder. That’s why he suspects Cass Kinsolving might know something about the deaths since they were both in Italy during those dates; so he travels to Charleston to speak with him.

Peter relates that Mason was a millionaire whose wealthy family moved from the North to Virginia when his father bought a plantation. His mother had an alcohol problem and neglected him, but he was obsessively attached to her. When he was thirteen years old, he sexually assaulted another student at school after being expelled for disciplinary problems.

Peter remembers the events that happened before Mason and Francesca’s deaths. He recalls seeing Mason with scratches on his face at a party, as well as him drunkenly going after a young girl who left his house crying. Cass courted the same girl later on. Afterward, Mason forced Cass to perform an embarrassing skit in front of everyone at a party. Peter then traveled with Cass to bring medicine to Francesca’s father, who was terminally ill. The next time Peter woke up it was because he heard about Mason and Francesca’s deaths on the news.

Peter explains Cass’s background. Before traveling to Sambuco, he grew up in a poor family in the South. From an early age, he loved art and wanted to become wealthy and famous as an artist. He was drafted into World War II and experienced severe trauma that affected him for life. After returning from war, he couldn’t paint anymore because of his trauma, so he turned to alcohol to dull his senses. Feeling distraught over his lost ability to paint, he traveled to Sambuco hoping it would inspire him again or help him escape memories of himself abusing an African American family while drunk during the war years. The task of helping Francesca became Cass’ agenda because it would raise him out of depression by giving purpose back into his life after being unable to create meaningful paintings due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms related with wartime experiences.”

Cass says that he killed Mason after finding out that Mason raped and murdered Francesca. He threw Mason’s body off a cliff, but later learned from his friend Luigi Migliore that Saverio was the one who actually killed Francesca. Luigi helped Cass cover up the murder because he felt it would be better for Cass to not go to jail so he could recover from his depression and addiction caused by what happened with Francesca.

Cass recovered from his drug addiction and began to paint again. He reconnected with Peter, who helped him understand the sickness of character that led Mason to rape Francesca. At the end of the novel, Peter returned to New York somewhat relieved that his friend hadn’t murdered anyone. However, he remarked on how fate had determined their actions since childhood experiences shaped both Cass and Mason’s characters.