Stone Cold

In literature, “cold” is often used to symbolize emotional detachment, loneliness, and cruelty. It reflects a lack of warmth, both physical and emotional. In Stone Cold, the symbol of cold serves exactly this purpose, conveying the themes of Societal Indifference to Suffering and The Psychological Impact of Living Unhoused.

Through the symbol of cold, Stone Cold critiques a society that fails to care for those in need, leaving them to endure not only physical cold but also the coldness of isolation and indifference. When Link becomes unhoused, he experiences winter on the streets for the first time. He explains, “You’re so cold, so frightened and it hurts so much that you end up praying for morning even though you’re dog-tired, even though tomorrow is certain to be every bit as grim as yesterday” (43). Here, the physical cold mirrors Link’s emotional state and becomes a symbol of the harsh, unwelcoming world.

The novel’s title, Stone Cold, reinforces this symbolic use of coldness. On one level, it refers to the unforgiving nature of the streets, where survival depends on becoming “stone cold” to both physical discomfort and emotional pain. Link himself notes the necessity of shutting down emotionally when begging for money: “I blunted the point of my own sensitivity in the flinty soil of their indifference till I too became indifferent, and after that it was easier” (40). On another level, the title alludes to the cold-heartedness of society, which ignores the suffering of unhoused people.

Shelter, the antagonist, embodies coldness. His cruelty toward his victims is clinical and detached: he refers to his victims as “volunteers,” stripping them of their humanity, and takes pride in arranging their corpses “the Army way” (45). His actions reflect the broader coldness of society, which ignores the suffering of the unhoused and enables such horrors to happen.