The Importance of Setting in a Short Story

Setting refers to the place where a story happens. Setting plays an important role in the success of
stories. “To Build a Fire” by Jack London readily illustrates the importance of setting in story writing. A
good writer’s depiction of setting puts the reader right into the story.

“To Build a Fire” by Jack London takes place on a trail in the Yukon. This setting is vital to the story
because nature, the cold, and the snow become the main character’s worst enemies. Nature is flatly
indifferent to mankind’s survival. The cold will not change because of man nor does it care about
human existence.

The temperature in this story is set at a frigid seventy-five degrees below zero. The main character is
a man who is walking a trail by himself trying to make it to a camp near Henderson Creek where a
friend awaits him. He has been warned not to go out into the cold, especially alone, if it is fifty
degrees below zero or more.

The man is ignorant to reality. His only companion is a dog who is smarter than he is. The dog knows
what he must do to survive and, ultimately, is the only one who does so. The man has to build a fire
in order to dry his boot that had gotten wet...so that his foot doesn’t freeze solid. The suspense of the
story is that the man is down to his last match. Although he succeeds in lighting the fire, it is the fire
itself that brings about his death. The heat from the fire causes snow to fall down from the pine
branch above it. The fire is snuffed out and the man freezes to death.

The entire story depends on the unforgiving nature of the setting.

The setting also includes the time of the story. Time is fictional, not real. Each story takes place during a
specific period of time, most often a short time span, such as a conversation, hour, few hours, or a few
days.

Time in a short story is fictional or an illusion. It is not real. And so the writer must create a story that
makes time seem real, allowing the reader to feel the meaning of time. How can the writer do this? The
writer can craft a scene, write summary, put into use the techniques of flashback or flash forward.

All short stories require a time and place—or backdrop to the story. The setting contributes to the
believability of the story. The writer must create a setting that allows the reader to suspend disbelief.
The writer can employ vivid details, concrete and specific descriptions, or language that appeals to the
senses of the reader. Since a short story is short, the writer must add only the essential details of setting,
those that contribute to the mood, conflict, meaning, and believability of the story.