Jack London's To Build A Fire

The short story “To Build a Fire” is a daunting story that follows a man’s journey in the cold Yukon with his dog. Author Jack London keeps readers on their toes and builds suspense with his powerful use of setting, theme, and imagery. London uses these elements to depict the man’s struggle to survive and overcome the obstacles he faces.

First of all, the setting is arguably one of the most important aspects of “To Build a Fire” because it is one of the central focuses in the story. Set in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, the story allows us to see into the life of an average man who flocked to Canada to strike it rich without any knowledge of the climate or terrain. In the beginning, the author immediately begins to describe how bitterly cold and gloomy it is outside. “There was no sun nor hint of sun, though there was not a cloud in the sky. It was a clear day, and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things, a subtle gloom that made the day dark…The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice. On top of this ice were as many feet of snow” (London 127).

This theme shows us that nature is a very powerful force that does not care about humanity. Through the course of the story, the man is constantly fighting against random acts in nature to save his own life. “Now the tree under which he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs… High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow. This fell on the boughs beneath… It grew like an avalanche, and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out” (London 133). No matter how many times the man tries to start a fire, something happens that either keeps the fire from starting or puts the burning fire out. Eventually, this process leads to the man losing feeling in his limbs and freezing to