I began on this project by trying to understand the poem and how the poet, Robert Frost, intended it to mean. From various sources, the general consensus seemed to interpret Frost as saying that fire is understood as the feeling of hatred, and ice is the sin of greed and lust.

Using stock images from the hit series “Game of Thrones”, I set out to find screen stills that resonate well with the poem’s intentions. This is due to the fact that it was this poem that inspired the story behind the series, so the scenes may better depict the poem stanzas to a greater degree.

I first found a war scene where two men were engaged in combat. This is representational of how physical conflict can lead to the downfall of humanity. War is a fine example of how ‘fire’ can be destructive in nature. However, while this still holds true, it is a rather straightforward viewpoint, just like how Frost himself concluded rather quickly that it will be the determining factor in destruction of the world, as seen in “I hold with those who favour fire.”. This image was given an orange filter and had it’s saturation increased to intensify the aggressive atmosphere of the situation.

Lust is the next issue that is interpreted in this poem. This image was first set on a grey scale and had the surrounding background coloured red. Coupled with the troubled expression of guilt the woman portrays, the emotions of passion and desire are enhanced this way. Covetousness can be a source of destruction to the world as raw desire blindly guides the mind to commit acts that break down relationships and cause immense emotional conflict. As an added trivia, the couple in the image portray incestuous siblings in the aforementioned series, making their carnal desires even more sinful. 

In the third image we see a young king rested on a throne. The dark image and his sombre expression gives the emotion of uneasiness. I used this image as a representation of greed, because the status of a king is what most people want; Power, Wealth, and Fame.

  

However, I would also like to introduce the notion that it may not always be solely ice or fire that will cause destruction. Here we see a shot taken of the terrorist group ISIS, which has been involved in graphic acts of violence and murder. In this image we see the effects of ice and fire; Extremist militants fight for their delusional idea of religion. This arises from their utter desire to ‘purify’ the world, which turns to hatred for anyone who opposes their beliefs. From this we can see that sometimes both ice and fire go hand in hand to effect destruction.

  

 Natural disasters, or diseases as seen in this final image (the human immunodeficiency virus) may also lead to the downfall of the human population. While these are neither ice nor fire, it is these elements that will catalyse their effects. Rape, prostitution and polyamorous behaviour all aid to spread the aids virus. Greed in industries accelerate the effects of global warming which in turn lead to the rise of natural disasters.