How Does Jack London Create Tension In To Build A Fire

Helen Keller once said, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it.” Jack London’s story “To Build a Fire” is a story about determination while facing beating big odds and adversity. The main character, the man, travels alone on the Yukon trail. It takes place during the wintertime. The story is about his struggle to survive in the icy and harsh conditions of the Yukon trail. As the man struggles and perseveres in the cold weather, this shows us a reminder that we can also persevere through our own struggles too. In, “To Build a Fire”, the author, Jack London creates effects of tension, surprise, and mystery throughout the structure of the story.

First, the author uses the cold of the Yukon trail and being

The author states, “He wondered whether the toes were warm or whether they were numb” (London 6). This creates mystery in the story because the man is in an odd and unfamiliar situation he had never been in before and this helps us create mystery because it makes the reader wonder if we will ever know if the man’s toes were numb or warm. It also creates mystery because it makes the reader wonder if this quote will have any significance later on in the story and it makes the reader wonder how the man will deal with this discrepancy and this helps creates mystery in the story. Next, London uses fire to create mystery in the story. The author states, No wind had been blowing for weeks and each branch was heavy with snow… The snow fell without warning upon the man and fire, and the fire was dead” (London 10). This helps create mystery in the story because there was no wind for many weeks, and then there was finally wind. This then caused a branch to fall on the fire and put it out. This creates mystery because it makes the reader think about how the man will survive now considering there is no more fire to keep him warm. It also helps create mystery in the story because it makes the reader think why there was wind on this particular day and time and it makes the reader wonder why there wasn’t wind at any other point in the