To Build a Fire

To Build a Fire

"To Build a Fire" is a short story by American author Jack London. The famous version of this story was published in 1908. Jack London published an earlier and radically different version in 1902 in which the protaganist survives his ordeal, and a comparison of the two provides a dramatic illustration of the growth of his literary ability. It is widely considered as a prime example of the naturalist movement and of a Man vs. Nature conflict.

ummary

This story is about a man on the Yukon Trail on a very cold day (fifty degrees below zero). His only traveling companion is a husky wolf-dog. The story describes the hardships the man is going through at starting a fire and trying to keep himself warm. The cold does not faze the man, a newcomer to the Yukon, who plans to meet his friends (who are referred to as boys) by six o'clock at an old junction. He walks along a creek trail, mindful of the dangerous, hidden springs, because getting wet feet on such a cold day is dangerous. The man continues on and, in an apparently safe spot, falls through the snow and gets wet up to his shins. He remembers an old-timer who had warned him that no man should travel in the Klondike alone when the temperature was fifty degrees below zero.

After having this accident, the man becomes scared and immediately starts a fire to dry his wet clothes. He foolishly starts the fire underneath a spruce tree, which is covered with snow, and keeps pulling twigs from it to feed the flames. The agitation eventually upsets the loaded boughs, which dump their weight of snow onto the fire and extinguish it. He then tries to start a new fire, aware that he is already going to lose a few toes from frostbite. He gathers twigs and grasses, then tries to light a match with his frozen, numbed fingers. He grabs all his matches and lights them all at once, then sets fire to a piece of bark. He starts the fire, but accidentally pokes it apart while trying to remove a piece of green moss. The man decides to kill the dog and to put his hands inside its warm body to restore his circulation. But due to the extreme cold, he cannot kill the dog because he is unable to pull out his knife, or even throttle the animal. He lets it go.

In a desperate attempt to keep himself warm, he starts to run, trying to let the exertion heat his body. However, he has no stamina, and soon he stops and sits down. He imagines his friends finding his dead body in the snow, then himself telling the old-timer that he was right: It was foolish to travel alone. A warmth covers him and he falls into a deep, deadly, relaxing sleep. The dog does not understand why the man is sitting in the snow and not making a fire to warm them. As night falls, the dog comes closer to him and smells death on the man. It runs away in the direction of the camp where the others are, unwilling to face death and venturing towards life.

Characters

There are only two characters in "To Build a Fire," a man and a dog, although some count Nature as a third character. In the story, Nature is portrayed as the antagonist--the foe against which the man is pitted for survival. However, Nature doesn't act deliberately--it simply is, and it is the man's own folly and arrogance that causes his death.

Link Between Nature and Man

The wolf-dog is a link between the man and Nature, but it identifies more closely with Nature than with the man. Its natural wisdom or instinct--it knows it is too cold to be traveling--is presented as an alternative to the foolishness of the man's behavior. After the man dies, the dog returns to camp.

ee also

*Jack London

External links

*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • build a fire under — {v. phr.} To urge or force (a slow or unwilling person) to action; get (someone) moving; arouse. * /The health department built a fire under the restaurant owner and got him to clean the place up by threatening to cancel his license./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • build a fire under — {v. phr.} To urge or force (a slow or unwilling person) to action; get (someone) moving; arouse. * /The health department built a fire under the restaurant owner and got him to clean the place up by threatening to cancel his license./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • build\ a\ fire\ under — v. phr. To urge or force (a slow or unwilling person) to action; get (someone) moving; arouse. The health department built a fire under the restaurant owner and got him to clean the place up by threatening to cancel his license …   Словарь американских идиом

  • Let's Build a Fire — Infobox Album Name = Let s Build a Fire Type = studio Artist = +/ Caption = Japanese/Taiwanese cover Released = October 24, 2006 (US) December 14, 2005 (Japan) November 26, 2005 (Taiwan) Recorded = Feb 2005 Oct 2005 (Asian versions) Feb 2005 May… …   Wikipedia

  • build a fire under — phrasal to stimulate to vigorous action …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • build a fire under — phrasal : to stimulate (someone or something) to vigorous action …   Useful english dictionary

  • fire — firer, n. /fuyeur/, n., v., fired, firing. n. 1. a state, process, or instance of combustion in which fuel or other material is ignited and combined with oxygen, giving off light, heat, and flame. 2. a burning mass of material, as on a hearth or… …   Universalium

  • fire — fire1 [ faır ] noun *** ▸ 1 uncontrolled burning ▸ 2 controlled burning ▸ 3 shooting with gun ▸ 4 strong feeling ▸ 5 equipment for heating ▸ + PHRASES 1. ) count or uncount flames and heat from something that is burning in an uncontrolled way:… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • fire */*/*/ — I UK [ˈfaɪə(r)] / US [faɪr] noun Word forms fire : singular fire plural fires 1) [countable/uncountable] flames and heat from something that is burning in an uncontrolled way The school was badly damaged by fire. Three children died in a fire at… …   English dictionary

  • fire — See: BALL OF FIRE, BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA or BETWEEN TWO FIRES, BUILD A FIRE UNDER, BURNT CHILD DREADS THE FIRE, CATCH FIRE, DRAW FIRE, FAT S IN THE FIRE, FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE, HANG FIRE, HEAP COALS OF FIRE ON ONE S HEAD, HOLD… …   Dictionary of American idioms

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”