"To Build a Fire"

By: Jack London

To Build a Fire is the story of a young miner who has come to the Yukon to find gold.
He is traveling toward his camp on a cold, windy afternoon, against the advice of a
seasoned miner. He falls through some ice and gets his feet wet, necessitating
building a fire to dry off and warm up. Unfortunately, his fire fails, and the man ends
up freezing to death. When it is clear he's dead, his dog deserts him, heading for the
warmth and food of the mining camp. Jack London’s ‘To Build a Fire’ can really be
seen as a job of art. It’s an excellent short story for anyone looking to read with
subjects that anyone can relate to, such as survival and man versus nature.
Everybody understands a dog is the greatest friend of a person, but what happens
when it is man versus dog? The fittest demonstrates really when the survival of the
fittest starts. Jack London in ‘To Build a Fire’ puts forward multiple literary elements
that really involve the reader in the tale.

Through his story To Build a Fire, Jack London has presented to us the classic conflict
of man versus nature. Harsh inhabitable environs have been a common setting in
Jack London’s stories, which he uses skilfully to show the elemental struggles of man
for survival, and how insignificant he is when compared to the enormity of nature.
This To Build a Fire analysis seeks to show how this short story highlights the notion
that nature is unconquerable and despite being the most evolved specie on earth,
even man can’t survive in nature when she is at her harshest. The hiker had
underestimated the impact that cold can have on the human body and had over-
estimated his ability to survive alone in the harsh Yukon territory. In his arrogance,
he had even laughed at the feebleness of an old-timer of Sulphur Creek who had
warned him that no man must venture alone in those inhospitable lands when the
temperature was below fifty. However, as the hike progresses, we find that the
warnings of the old native were indeed sound. Despite being very careful, the hiker
ends up breaking through the ice and getting himself wet. His attempts to build a fire
failed for his fingers were numb and dysfunctional, and he ends up collapsing on the
ground and dying. This death of the hiker implies the victory of nature over man. On
the other hand, the dog that was following the man survives because the dog is
nature itself, and is hence equipped with the means to survive it. Man, on the other
hand, is a creature of intellect as opposed to survival instincts. However, intellect
cannot help a man when the temperature is below freezing point and his body is
incapacitated. The hiker uses all the brains he can to survive the harsh cold, from
using his hands as stump to light a fire to running like a headless chicken to keep his
blood pumping. However, in the end, the hiker’s body gives up and stops complying
with his brains. Nature claims what it was meant to claim.

The third person point of view has been used very well by Jack London in this short
story. He uses the omniscient narrator to give us insights into not only what the man
is thinking but also what the dog is thinking. This contrast between how the man and
the dog approach nature shows us how limited a man is when it comes to survival in
harsh conditions. The dog, guided by pure instinct, knew that it was an awful idea to
venture out in the cold; whereas, the man, guided by intelligence and numbers,
thought he could survive anything if he uses his brains. However, the death of the
man in the end shows how wrong the man was in his estimation of what cold and
harsh environs can do to a man. Because the narrator is omniscient, we also get a
long commentary on the lay of the Yukon land and the harsh cold. The omniscient
narrator describes how there is no sun over unbroken expanses of white, and how
the cold is so tremendous that even spittle freezes mid-air.

The tone used in the story is apathetic and detached – just like nature, which actually
helps in the creation of the frigid setting. The language used is simple and straight-
forward. The plot is fast-paced and action-packed. The ending of the story, where
the dog moves on leaving behind the dead hiker shows how life goes on, and that
mortal men are insignificant in the grander scheme of things like nature and survival.

The theme of this story is about persistence. It suggests that persistence is necessary
while achieving a goal. The man is surely persistent to go to the mining camp, but his
being unaware of his surroundings puts him in danger. He is also overly confident
and stubborn to have ignored the old-timer’s advice. No matter how hard one tries
to get something, if the target does not make sense and is not realistic, he will fail
one way or another. One needs to be persistent and aware of his surroundings.The
overarching To Build a Fire theme is the futility of man when pitted against nature.
Throughout the story, we see how, despite being careful and calculative, the hiker
ultimately ends up losing his life to hypothermia, because one cannot trump nature
when it is at its harshest. We also have in this story the theme of primitivism, which
gets established through the dog. The dog had the primitive instinct to avoid the cold
and hunt for fire; whereas the hiker, guided by intellect, did not think much of the
cold and ventured all alone into sub-zero frigid land. We see in this story how
primitivism trumps intellect, just as nature trumps man. Another theme of this story
is pride. Although there are no direct hints, but one can glean that venturing all
alone into frigid lands was a matter of pride for the hiker. He paid no heed to the
warning of an old-timer who said he should not hike without a partner when the
temperature is below fifty and even laughed at his feebleness. This shows that the
hiker was a proud, arrogant man who thought he could conquer nature. However,
one can say that it was his pride and arrogance that ultimately led to his demise.

In this story, fire represents life. The story makes the readers somehow feel how
important fire is. The man tries as hard as he could to build a fire because he knows
that the presence of fire is what could make him survive in such a cold day. Fire is
definitely essential, which is why the absence of it could bring misfortune to the
man. Hands, on the other hand, represent power. The man could not kill his dog
because of his numb hands. One is powerless and defenseless without having much
control of hands.

To Build a Fire is a simple short story that delineates the life-threatening adventure
of a man who dared to explore the sub-zero lands of Yukon all by himself. Proud and
foolish as the man was, he ended up dying of hypothermia. On the other hand, the
husky that accompanied him survives, for it was attuned to its primal survival
instincts. The message that this story then bears is that nature will claim whatever it
deems fit when it is at its harshest; and no man, no matter how intelligent and
capable, can combat nature that is designed to kill. Struggles of survival in harsh
inhospitable environs were the common stock of many Jack London’s stories, and To
Build a Fire is no different in this regard, for it is ultimately the tale of the ineffectual
struggle of survival of a lone man in Yukon.

To build a fire” is a very nice story to read. Not only does it have a plot which is well
built, but it also has a deep meaning or a moral lesson to convey. Seldom could such
a story be found in these days. The use of foreshadowing is amazingly perfect since it
builds up the climax. This story teaches the readers that not only is one supposed to
be persistent, but also aware of one’s surroundings. Persistence and awareness of
surroundings have their own power and seem to complement each other. There is
no doubt in mind why Jack London was famous and admired by readers loving to
read works of literature. It makes the readers enjoy the paradise of literature .