Originally published in 1908 and featured in The Century Magazine, Jack London’s short story “To Build a Fire” is a story of a man on a journey that strays past the main Yukon trail. The Yukon trail is 33 miles long and begins in Dyea, Alaska and ends at Lake Bennett in British Columbia, Canada. There is no indication of when the story was taking place. The story consists of two characters, which remained unnamed throughout; however, one character is a man while the other is his companion, a dog. The nameless man is described in the beginning of the story as a man without depth. The man is not complex and is portrayed as merely instinctual, reflecting the personality his dog. The story begins at nine o’clock in the morning in a bleak but cloudless
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London made sure to paint a portrait for the reader of the setting and the gloomy undertone set the short story up beautifully. The setting significantly reflected the main character purposely. The way London described the chilling air and numbness of the traveler’s extremities would make anyone clench their fists and wiggle their toes, really including one in the adventure. London also expressed the cold on the mans face: “The hair on the man’s face was similarly frosted, but more solidly. It took the form of ice and increased with every warm, moist breath from his mouth” (London 10). The setting is crucial to the story and London makes it known as he stresses the setting changes, but numbing similarities throughout the journey. The numbing weather reflects directly to the character. In the beginning of the story London writes that the man had not seen sunlight in days, which is debatably describing the man’s actual journey without direct sunlight, or is metaphorical of the man’s being. The character seems to lack depth and is somewhat closed off, so explanation of not seeing the sun in days is a direct connotation to his personality. Along with Mother Nature going completely against the man throughout the entire story, the man’s surfaced disposition is the perfect kind of character to almost defeat Mother Nature herself. While keeping calm and collected throughout the entire story, the increasingly numb man (internally and externally) meets defeat of an even colder
London made sure to paint a portrait for the reader of the setting and the gloomy undertone set the short story up beautifully. The setting significantly reflected the main character purposely. The way London described the chilling air and numbness of the traveler’s extremities would make anyone clench their fists and wiggle their toes, really including one in the adventure. London also expressed the cold on the mans face: “The hair on the man’s face was similarly frosted, but more solidly. It took the form of ice and increased with every warm, moist breath from his mouth” (London 10). The setting is crucial to the story and London makes it known as he stresses the setting changes, but numbing similarities throughout the journey. The numbing weather reflects directly to the character. In the beginning of the story London writes that the man had not seen sunlight in days, which is debatably describing the man’s actual journey without direct sunlight, or is metaphorical of the man’s being. The character seems to lack depth and is somewhat closed off, so explanation of not seeing the sun in days is a direct connotation to his personality. Along with Mother Nature going completely against the man throughout the entire story, the man’s surfaced disposition is the perfect kind of character to almost defeat Mother Nature herself. While keeping calm and collected throughout the entire story, the increasingly numb man (internally and externally) meets defeat of an even colder