A fire hose is an inanimate object that has no life to it; it's just cloth, metal, plastic and kerosene. However, Ray Bradbury uses a metaphor to personify the hose. He gives the hose qualities of a live, dangerous snake. He writes that it is a "great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world." This great description takes something that is inanimate and neutral, and bestows it with an edge of danger and violence. It symbolizes how the hose really is something to be feared; its venom is the kerosene that poisons and kills people's lives when it comes to your door. Personifying the hose as a snake gives it symbolic depth and a true sense of its danger and evil. A snake is a symbol that has been used to symbolize Satan, fear and violence throughout the ages, and Bradbury's use of it hear gives the hose and the destruction that the firemen bring with it added layers of harm and terror. Bradbury uses metaphors quite a bit in this book to bring things alive--books are beautiful birds, Clarisse is a mirror, reflecting your true self back on you, etc. Keep your eyes open for them, and it will add a whole other layer of meaning to your reading. I hope that those thoughts helped; good luck!
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