Art
Three of the characters in Burn This have artistic careers. Anna has been a dancer, and as the play begins, she is trying to draw upon her experience as a dancer in a new career as a choreographer. Anna uses art as the creative outlet of her emotions and experiences. The new dance she creates in the last act is based on her relationship with Pale. For Burton, art leads to financial reward; he is not willing to take risks for art. He uses his experiences and the environment around him to create screenplays, but Burton's attachment to his art is less personal than Anna's. He easily sells his work and dismisses his creative attachment to it once the sale is completed. Larry is a graphic artist for an advertising firm. He acknowledges that he sells his creative talents and that the intended purpose of his art is to make money and sell products. All of these characters in Burn This find a use for art, but art means something different to each one.

Death
It is Robbie's death that leads Pale to Anna. Wilson asks the audience to believe that Pale's rude and socially inept behavior is camouflage for his grief at his brother's death. In a very real sense, it is death that leads these two characters to re-evaluate their respective lives. Without Robbie's death, the audience is led to believe that Anna, who is feeling the desire to marry and have children, would have chosen Burton. Pale's emergence in her life forces her to confront her fear of emotional intimacy.

Friendship
The friendship between Anna and Larry is the anchor in her life. It is Larry's line, “Now you show up," that reveals to the audience that Burton was not available to comfort Anna when she needed him, and so Larry creates the first questions about the nature of Anna and Burton's relationship. It is Larry who helps Anna deal with Robbie's death, and it is Larry who appears when he thinks that Anna needs rescuing from Pale. Most importantly, Larry seems to recognize, even before Anna, the growing importance of Pale in her life. And it is Larry who finally resolves the impasse, by using notes to bring Pale and Anna together.

Human Condition
Larry represents humanity's attempt to confront modern life. One of the first examples of this is revealed in the story he tells about designing a Christmas card for Chrysler that must be so politically correct that the only thing that everyone can believe in is a car. Larry is cynical about his nieces and nephews, and he sees all these children as a result of a woman's need to become a "baby machine." Larry notes mat all the wrong people reproduce, as has been the case throughout history. Anna represents humanity's effort to confront prejudice. Her outrage at how Robbie's family had removed themselves from his life establishes Anna's sensitivity to her friend's pain. But she is also trying to prevent more pain by distancing herself from any serious emotional involvement. Anna says she is sick of the age she is living in, that she is feeling ripped off and scared. While Pale can only curse at the indignities of urban life, both Anna and Larry are trying to find a deeper understanding of life and love and the demands of modern existence, which make uninvolvement more desirable.

Prejudice and Tolerance
An important theme is that of prejudice. Robbie's family cannot acknowledge his homosexuality and so they negate his existence. They must create a fantasy life for him that is different...