Rhetorical Analysis: "To Build a Fire" (Thesis and One Paragraph Revision Final)

Thesis:
Jack London uses the harsh Yukon setting of "To Build a Fire" as well as symbols and imagery as
rhetorical devices to focus readers on his direct comparison between the man and the dog. Their
unique actions represent London's ideas about human judgment vs. animal instinct.

Paragraph:
Yann Martel, the author of Life of Pi, once stated, When your own life is threatened, your sense
of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival." The idea Martel is conveying is
that, in the worst situations, human action is controlled by survival instinct. The Yukon setting is
an environment of obstacles and temperatures that are not catered to man. This traps the
protagonist in such a situation that keeps both characters in a state of never ending struggle.
London is exemplifying to the reader that both the man and the dog are constantly working off
their survival instinct. For example, the man forces the dog to test the stability of the ice on a
frozen river, resulting in the dog breaking through the ice and falling into the water. "Almost
immediately the water on them turned to ice. The dog made quick efforts to get the ice off its
legs. Then it lay down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the
toes. The animal knew enough to do this... It merely obeyed the commands that arose from the
deepest part of its being," (London, 68-69). In this passage, the man makes a judgment, based on
his experience, to send the dog out first before he stepped out onto the ice. After the dog falls
into the water, he quickly recovers from the situation by performing actions "that arose from the
deepest part of its being." The idea that London tries to convey here is that animal instinct

allowed for the dog to recover from such a situation that man would quickly die from. However,
the man avoided the situation in entirety due to his past knowledge. London's use of this setting
makes the reader question the durability of man and animal within such a harsh environment.