In "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, the setting plays a significant role throughout the entire short story. By introducing his readers to the setting, London prepares them for a story that is depressing, frightening, and "cold." Isolated by his setting in frigid weather, the main character of the story, "the man," immodestly and incorrectly believes that he can deal with the bitter, unrelenting harshness of his surroundings. He comes too late to an understanding that he should have listened more carefully to the advice of "the old-timer on Sulphur Creek."The man" was new to the land and conditions of the Yukon. He was a "chechaquo," and this was his first winter alone on a trail that disappeared under the extreme cold. The only world "the