To Build A Fire, By Jack London

The Short story, ‘To Build a Fire’ by Jack London, published in 1908, is an archetypal naturalist tale regarding a man who travels alone through the unforgiving Yukon in Winter, before ultimately falling victim to the harsh environment. The story portrays the issues in being unaware of the power of nature and portrays a strong naturalist, In the very beginning of the story, his indifference to the forces of nature is evident through London’s vivid imagery of the uninhabited environment and the man’s nonchalant tone imitated through the neutral diction present. Furthermore, the quote “The trouble with him was that he was without imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances,” explicitly foreshadows that an issue will come of his indifference

To build a fire is a short story written by Jack London. It is a story about an individual’s choice. The main character’s self-centeredness overcomes him, as he tries to survive the wintery weather in his travel in the Yukon Trail. He made a choice of ignoring the weather warnings, which evidenced danger in his journey. There were warnings like the absence of fellow travelers due to the cold season, but his egoism made him still embark on the journey alone, despite the warnings. The protagonist’s pride and arrogance leads to a regrettable outcome, as it leads to his downfall. The protagonist made the wrong choices because of his egotism, and arrogance and they led to his downfall. He defied nature due to his lack of logical judgment, and

Readers of all ages, literature lovers, and book fanatics often find conflicts within their own lives just as the characters of the stories they read do. Some are able to find a way to overcome and conquer, while others get stuck behind or can not find a way to beat them. In Jack London’s short story called “To Build a Fire,” the main character conflicts with mother nature, who keeps tearing him down at every possible point. The main character, who is only referred to as the Man, is battling his way alone through the harsh temperatures of the Yukon. On this journey he runs into many obstacles and challenges. The Man does not listen to the advice he is given, leading to his inevitable death at the end. The most notable theme London builds

'To build a fire' is a story about a man travels in the Yukon with his wolf-dog through a hostile environment.

London, Jack. "To Build a Fire." The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's,

Jack London, in his short story “To Build a Fire,” details man’s attempt to prevail against the wrath of nature. In London’s story, the man, the protagonist, embarks on a dangerous ten-mile journey on the main Yukon trail during a harsh winter. Although the man shows knowledge of his snowy surroundings, his lack of sagacity, arrogance, and disrespect of nature result in his defeat in a battle between him and nature. London describes the man as one who is “quick and ready in the things of life...and not their meanings;” thus, showing the man’s lack of sagacity. The man does not think about the repercussions of his actions so he begins his journey with the thought that “50 degrees below zero [would be] nothing more than 50 degrees below.

In “To Build a Fire”, the author Jack London uses three fires to express the overall theme of pride. The unnamed man goes on a journey in freezing temperatures which leads him to make stupid decisions. The first fire the protagonist creates restores his pride he has in himself. London states, “for the fire was beginning to burn with strength”.

Advice should never be taken lightly. The story “To Build a Fire”, the central character, also known as “The man”, is the central character of this story. The man is a compelling whose lack of instinct, thoughtlessness and determination leads him to his own death. To build a fire is a well written story arrayed in imagery. Throughout the story “The man” stumbled upon a few obstacles.

Jack London, an american novelist, wrote a short story called To Build a Fire in the early 1900’s. To Build a Fire is about a man who travels alone through the dangerous environment of Yukon in below-freezing temperatures. The man’s goal was to meet up with “the boys” at a camp that was a couple of miles from where he began his journey. He had no doubt that he would make it to the camp, for he had a husky wolf-dog by his side, and the skills he needed to survive. However, the man ended up running out of energy and falling into a nice, satisfying sleep, murmuring, “You were right, old fellow. You were right,” to the old man of Sulphur Creek who warned him about travelling alone.

Vicious cold at 75 below; much colder than your average winter. “Spittle crackled in the air before it reached the snow.” This is what the man experienced in Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”. He is lost in a relatively unknown landscape, the Yukon territory in northernmost Canada and Alaska. Traveling alone with his dog. This story could have had a happy ending except some setbacks, that were almost totally avoidable. Seemingly, the man could still be with us today if it were not for his negligence of the old man’s advice, didn’t build his fire underneath a tree, and went with a trail mate on his journey.

“To Build a Fire” is a short story written by Jack London. It is viewed as a masterpiece of naturalist fiction. “To Build a Fire” features a miner who is traveling to the Yukon Territory with a dog as his companion. The miner is the protagonist and the dog companion is called the foil. The dog plays off of the traits of the protagonist. “The central motif of “To Build a Fire” concerns the struggle of man versus nature.” (Short Story Criticism) The most argued point in the short story is the reason of the protagonist death. “Some critics believe that it was his lack of intuition and imagination that lead to his death, while others say that he dies because of panic.” (Short Story Criticism) The protagonist in “To Build a Fire” struggles in

"To Build a Fire" by Jack London is about a man traveling alone in the Yukon. The story follows the old man and a dog that man attempted to hike through the snow.

“To Build a Fire” by Jack London is a short story about a man traveling through the Alaskan Yukon to meet up with his friends for lunch. The author keeps the character nameless and refers to him only as “The Man” which is used to show a connection between humanity and nature. The story shows the hardships the man goes through to get to his destination through the Alaskan Yukon, yet unfortunately doesn’t make it. The conflict is a man versus nature theme which contrasts strong and direct relations of the hardships in nature. Throughout this analysis, I am going to explore the conflict between the man and the merciless nature he has to go through before his death.

Do you think you could survive the Yukon trail, a mile wide and three feet of ice, and just as many feet of snow, in weather colder than fifty below? The story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, is about a man who tried to take the Yukon trail and get to his friends with just a dog to guide him. He was told that no one has ever made the journey alone, yet he chose to take on the journey. Through the story the man faces many conflicts not only through himself in having too much pride, but also with the physical ones such as the cold which lead to his death. The main theme in the book is the man’s perseverance to try and survive. The man on the Yukon Trail has to show perseverance through the story even with the harsh weather and signs of bad events coming upon him. In his story “To Build a Fire,” Jack London discusses the theme of perseverance through two literary elements, conflict and foreshadowing.

On average, about 500 people in the world die from exposure to excessive natural cold per year. In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” the main character is faced with the same problem. He is all alone in the frigidly cold Yukon climate. Eventually, the cold gets to him. He surrenders to the cold and dies slowly after freezing from falling in a frozen creek. The three major mistakes the man made that got him killed were not noticing that the dog didn’t want to go on the ice, building his desperately needed fire under a tree, and ignoring the advice the old-timer on Sulphur Creek gave him.