To Build A Fire Essay

Would you put your own judgement over common sense? Would judgement overrule your instincts? Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” is a short story about a man and his dog in a foreign setting. To Build a Fire follows the main protagonist “the man” and his loyal companion as they travel through the Yukon trail in below freezing temperature. While the dog is nervous, the man is confident and continues to ignore the signs of danger. The setting is arguably the most important part of the story; it plays a major role in how the story is executed. He is alone, freezing, and no one will be there to find him. London establishes a story that’s driven by the vital setting from the plot, to the characters, and the mood. The plot of the story is foreshadowed from the beginning, the readers and the dog are aware of the impending danger in the cold but the man doesn’t. The story is set in -75 degree weather on the Yukon Trail; this poses a problem because only the reader and the dog are aware of this. This leads to his death. When he removes his gloves to remove the ice from the dog’s paws after it had fallen through the ice into the river he doesn’t expose his fingers long but is already “astonished at the numbness”(London 49). The cold starts to freeze his fingers but he’s unaware of the danger he is in. This leads to his …show more content…
He’d be to camp by six…” The mood exudes confidence and arrogance in the beginning because he believes despite the temperature; he will make it back to camp. This mood dissolves as he realizes just how cold it is from his frozen fingers and toes. He begins to feet fear as his exposed fingers begin to feel numb. The mood gets darker as the man realizes and accepts that he’s to die along and frozen. The setting ensures his fate as soon as he decides not to wait out the cold and due to his location no one would find him in time. “A good idea, he thought, to sleep off to death. Freezing wasn’t as bad as people thought”(London