To Build A Fire By Jack London Setting

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

There were actually various signs of the temperature was dropping to a dangerous level before a stroke of misfortune hit the man. While he was chewing tobacco, the moisture around his lips froze, “... and the muzzle of ice held his lips so rigidly that he was unable to clear his chin when he expelled the juice” (London 3). Though this was an indicator of the frighteningly low temperature, he dismisses it as “the penalty all tobacco-chewers paid in that country” (London 3). Also, while trekking through the barren trail, “... his cheek-bones went numb, and the following instant the end of his nose went numb…” (London 4). Although these signs of frostbite would normally frighten someone less confident, the protagonist states in his thoughts that “...it didn’t matter much, after all. What were frosted cheeks? A bit painful, that was all; they were never serious” (London 4). This shows that he does not have a proper sense of how severe the consequences of frostbite really are. He has obtained the basic logical knowledge about it, but fails to comprehend the actual danger that is threatening him. His egotistical personality has him thinking that he can easily overcome any obstacle, whether it is set by man or nature. Ordinarily, in the viewpoint of the man, the most practical thing to do in that situation would probably be to stop and warm his frosted cheeks and nose by a fire. But that would be admitting weakness, which would be a blow to his pride. Consequently,

The short story "To build a Fire" by Jack London, tells about the relationship between man and nature. The story takes place in the Yukon during one of the long night. The main character who is unnamed travels with a dog along a small trail to a mining camp. The man leaves against the advice of a local and after a short time realizes that he should have waited. The temperature is extremely cold because the mans spit freezes before it hits the ground. The main obstacle of his journey is the many covered springs that mean death to whoever falls into them. The man sends his dog in front of him to make sure that the trail is safe. Eventually the dog falls into one of the springs and gets his paws wet.

If developed the right way, the setting can play an important role in a story like this. London builds his setting up quickly, within the first words of this story. The story is set in the wintertime with no sign of the sun, at the Yukon Trail. A deadly and extremely cold area in the country of Canada. In the story, the narrator states, “Day had dawned cold and gray when the man turned aside

In the short story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, the protagonist foremost values his pride, which leads to his demise. The story starts off with the protagonist taking a detour in the Yukon so that he could survey the trees in the area (he was doing this so that he could send logs down the river to the gold prospecting camp, where he would sell the wood to the prospectors for money). But, the protagonist’s pride blinds him from what could have and should have done to ensure his survival in the Yukon. About halfway through his journey, he accidentally breaks through the ice on the spring and his foot falls into the water. At the temperatures mentioned in the story (seventy below zero), if he did not dry himself properly, it could lead to serious frostbite and/or death. So, he was forced to build a fire, and the “fire was a success. He was safe. He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek, and smiled. The old-timer had been very serious in laying down that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below. Well, here he was; he had had an accident: he was alone; and he had saved himself. Those old-timers were rather womanish” (London 8). The man keeps feeding the fire and gets ready to take his (frozen and potentially dangerous) footwear off, and feels content and a sense of satisfaction of disproving the old-timers. But, just as it seemed to be that the fire was stable and strong, snow that was on the branches of the spruce tree he was under fell

In the story “To Build A Fire” the climate is cold. “Before the coming of winter, the old-timer from Sulphur Creek had warned him that one should always travel in winter with a partner and that one should never attempt to travel alone in temperatures colder than fifty degrees below zero. In his ignorance, the tenderfoot had laughed at the old-timer’s advice. Caught in the bitter cold, he is made to realize

In her passage, Ms. Vollmer argues about McCandless failing to hear the warnings provided by Jack London through his stories which McCandless had read and reread many times. In his story 'To Build a Fire' Jack London has shown the difference between a person who did not care about the risks and a dog with pure instincts. The similarity between this man and McCandless was that both were inexperienced to the adverse events of nature and both failed to see the dangers. The main purpose of London's story was to warn the adventurers about the risks to the wilderness. As an enthusiast of Jack London, McCandless had read these stories many stories many times and yet failed to understand London's warnings. Shreds of evidence lie in every mistake he had made as he continued his journeys making Vollmer's argument agreeable.

The man knows the temperature is colder than 50 below; he has no experience traveling in such weather yet continues absentmindedly to meet ‘the boys’ at their camp in Henderson Creek. A dog followed at his heels, “It’s instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the man’s judgement” (Anderson 28). The man was aware of the dangers of his trip, including thin ice skin hidden beneath pockets of sunken snow. Several times he avoids these traps wishing not to be delayed and even compels the dog to lead when he is unsure himself. The dog’s instinct screams no but the man shoves it forward anyway and the dog’s legs are soaked briefly before turning to ice. The dog quickly bites and licks at the ice to remove it from its fur. After a swift lunch and a small fire the dog again reminds the man of the dangers that lie ahead, “…it knew that it was not good to walk abroad in such fearful cold” (Anderson 30). Regretfully, the man saw no signs before falling through a pocket of snow and ice which left his feet wet. “He was angry and cursed his luck aloud. He had hoped to get into camp with the boys at six o’clock, and this would delay him an hour, for he would have to build a fire and dry out his footgear” (Anderson 31). Ignorant to his surroundings, the man’s fire is put out when snow falls from the boughs of the spruce above his fire. He finally acknowledged

In the narrative “To Build a Fire”, the setting was taking place in the Yukon. The setting impacted the plot because if it wasn’t for the weather that was below 50 degrees, there wouldn’t be a story. The whole story was about a man trying to build a fire in a weather that cold. If it wasn’t for the setting and the weather in that setting the man wouldn't need that fire.

lead his readers to believe that the man will suffer a tragedy in the end

1.) In “To Build a Fire,” London shows that man vs. nature is not the safest or wisest thing to test. The man started his journey overconfident in his ability to make it to the meeting spot where his buddies were. Ignoring the advice that was given to him by the old man in the shop, he continued on his way without a thought for the dangers he might be putting himself into. So, he went against advice and tested his might against the elements.

The setting of a story may have a great effect on the meaning of the story, as show in “To Build a Fire.” Lines 1-2 state, “Day had broken, cold and grey, exceedingly cold and grey.” By reading this quote, readers may tell that this setting would not be a favorable place to live. Another example of the setting would be in line 14, “The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice.” From reading these examples of the setting, readers can tell more or less that this man must trust his instincts greatly because he went out in condtitions like these. The Elders of the village warned the man about going out into these kinds of conditions, nevertheless, the man chose to trust his instincts and go anyway. Jack London most likely used

Next he was not ready for the cold that was -75f and snowing. The man was new to the yukon and never experience with the temperature. The

No matter what type of story you are reading, setting always plays a key element in producing the desired effect. Jack London's short story To Build A Fire provides an excellent example of this. In this story, a man hikes across a snow and ice covered plane towards the encampment where he is supposed to meet up with more travelers like himself. The setting of this story is one of the northernmost most areas of the earth, the Yukon. The man must hike across this area for approximately thirty-six miles before he reaches the camp at which he is expected. The constantly dropping temperature further complicates the man's hike. When he begins his journey at nine o'clock in the morning it is

“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.