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Setting Analysis Of To Build A Fire By Jack London

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Setting Analysis of “To Build A Fire” Today, children are always told to live for the moment. Not to worry about the little things and to live as if there will be no tomorrow. Almost as if what is done today will not affect tomorrow. In reality, every little thing people do will impact them in some type of way. For every choice or decision someone makes, there is a consequence that comes with it. This consequence can be major, minor, good, or bad. In Jack London’s short story “To Build A Fire”, readers are taken along on a journey with a naive man and his dog as they battle the extreme winter conditions of the Yukon. One of the driving forces to the story’s plot is the harsh setting in which this journey takes place. The setting enforces the ominous mood of the story as well as reveals information about the man. While doing so, the setting also conveys the idea that with every decision or action there is a consequence that must be faced. The setting of “To Build A Fire” is not one that is warm and inviting. Instead, it is one that is frigid and frightening. Many layers of snow on the surface make it seem as if there is “an intangible pall over the face of things” (London 569). For miles all that can be seen is a sheet of white and the dreariness of the vacant land. The temperature is well in the negatives and the winds are strong. The sun has not been out in days. With every step the man takes, nature throws another obstacle into his path. This is an environment that is

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