How Does Jack London Use Descriptive Language In To Build A Fire

In Jack London sets for the story, "To Build a Fire," it is set in the Yukon, which is a freezing land in Canada. I feel his setting was developed in a very anticipating way in the story. Jack London used the character's dog's instincts to show that there are dangers. The author uses descriptive language to describe the weather of the land in order to develop the plot. The man in the story is unaware of the full danger of the weather and doesn't change his journey even after he is warned of the growing danger. The main character is a newcomer to the Yukon, which is located near Alaska. The Yukon, temperature gets no higher than twenty-five degrees in the summer and drops down as far as negative eighty degrees in it's winter. …show more content…
The man can not understand the dog's natural instincts. He does not know the actual temperature but he does know it is cold and to seek shelter. The man cruelly makes the dog walk in front of him to test the ice. When the ice does break, the dog's front paws go in, he then instinctively starts to bite at the ice on his paws to get it off. London writes uses descriptive phrases like, "Day had broken cold and gray, exceedingly cold and gray....", and "...but this spittle had crackled in the air." The lack of sun in the sky and the tremendous cold makes the reader feel the setting. I think he uses this descriptive writing to show how dangerously cold it really is for the man and his dog. The man is inexperienced, and he does not realize how really cold it is for him and his dog. He takes no notice of the fact that the sled trail has not been traveled on in awhile or that his face and nose are growing numb. He takes his mitten off and is frightened by how fast the numbness takes over his fingers. Although he is determined to reach his camp despite the danger. All this leads the reader to believe that something bad is bound to