Fire and Frost: Choices and Consequences

Fire and Frost: Choices and Consequences

In a desolate environment, the barren trees with a blanket of snow encompasses the man as his rough journey begins. “To Build a Fire” by Jack London is a short story that depicts a man venturing into the wilderness of the Yukon trail, who due to his inexperience as a newcomer encounters obstacles in which he realizes but chooses to ignore, which eventually leads to his death. The contrasting perspective of the dog and the man in “To Build a Fire” portrays that living creatures should be responsible for one’s choices evidently the outcome of the dog and the man in the wilderness is solely dependent on the actions they take.

The author begins with describing the Yukon trail as extremely cold and stark: “There seemed to be an indescribable darkness over the face of things. That was because the sun was absent from the sky. The fact did not worry the man. He was not alarmed by the lack of sun. It had been days since he had seen the sun” (London 64). London’s development of the setting throughout the plot establishes the thematic role nature will play from the very beginning. The indifference towards mankind is notably clear and the only way to survive is based on one’s actions. During the initial stages of narration, London uses foreshadowing to reveal the most ideal outcome of the man traveling alone in the cold with the quote on page 64, “But all this- the distant trail, no sun in the sky, the great cold, and the strangeness of it all- had no effect on the man. It was not because he was long familiar with it. He was a newcomer in the land, and this was his first winter” ( London 64). The fact that the man is a newcomer to the Yukon makes the reader feel that he is more prone to tragic events. In addition, the man is only slightly aware of his surroundings and rarely translates the hard facts such as the extreme cold into more significant ideas such as a man’s frailty and mortality. This is shown when the author writes, “ The trouble with him was that he was not able to imagine...Fifty degrees below zero meant 80 degrees of frost. Such facts told him that it was cold and uncomfortable, and that was all” (London 64). A temperature fifty degrees below zero does not encourage the man to imagine his own weaknesses. Cold simply means discomfort to him. Furthermore the man’s limited imagination causes him to underestimate the power of nature which quickly establishes itself as one of his fatal flaws in the story. As his traveling progresses, the man approaches a faint sled trail. Several inches of snow has fallen and a decent amount of time has passed since any sled has gone over the trail, but the man carries on his voyage towards Henderson camp where his boys are waiting. This poses as a potential danger of solitude in nature which the man chooses to ignore. Another indication of danger is when the man discovers his spit freezing in mid-air. His freezing spit should reinforce the danger of coldness, but due to the man’s lack of imagination, he overlooks the risks and consequences of such extreme cold. The author does this to show how the man’s mind is blinded by arrogance; he is aware, but is unwilling to accept the fact that nature has power over him, ultimately depicting that mankind is unwilling to accept weaknesses.

In contrast to the man, the dog represents a key figure in the short story because it displays directly opposite qualities of the man. The author’s use of the dog’s point of view reveals its pure instinct and awareness of the power of nature which enabled it to survive as opposed to the man. The dog’s instinctual knowledge is more helpful than the man’s rationality: “ The animal was worried by the great cold. It knew that this was no time for traveling. Its own feeling was closer to the truth than the man’s judgment” (66). The dog is described as a “big native dog”, suggesting that it is very aware of the dangers that nature poses to one’s life in extreme conditions. This is shown on page 70 when London writes, “The dog was sorry to leave and looked toward the fire. This man did not know cold. Possibly nonce of his ancestors had known the cold, real cold. But the dog knew and all of its family knew. And it knew that it was not good to walk outside in such fearful cold” (London 70). The fire symbolizes life and survival in the harsh environment, therefore a lack of fire will result in death which is seen towards the end of the story. Without thinking, the dog knows the cold is dangerous and resists to proceed. On the other hand, the man’s intellect backfires on him because he is unable to connect the hard facts and conclude the more significant ideas behind the facts. Although his complex brain allows him to operate tools such as matches and tell temperature based on scientific knowledge, the author portrays the dog to be wiser because it chooses to follow its instinct. This is shown again when the dog is reluctant to walk and go test possible dangers for the man: “Once, sensing danger, he made the dog go ahead. The dog did not want to go. It hesitated until the man pushed it forward” (London 68). From this situation, London brings across another principle of humanity which is selfishness. Human beings are only concerned for one’s own advantage regardless of others. The man was willing to sacrifice the dog for his own safety because he has become aware of the coldness as his fingers and hands start to feel numb. After the dog falls through the ice, it crawls back out immediately and starts to bite away the chunk of ice that has formed on its feet and legs. The act of biting away the ice on his paws demonstrate its preparation to deal with the risks of extreme coldness: “Then it lay down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes. The animal knew enough to do this. To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet. It did not know this. It merely obeyed the commands that arose from the deepest part of its being” (London 69). The dog is repeatedly protected by its instincts, which the man lacks and ultimately consequences will emerge due to the man’s arrogance.

In contrast to the dog’s instinct, the man relies heavily on individualism and accomplishment. He strives to get to the camp within the shortest amount of time because in doing so, he feels the pride for accomplishing a goal that seems to be hard in the eyes of others. London expresses the idea that humans strive to challenge themselves because mankind seeks, above all things, a sense of accomplishment. The arrogance of the main character is evident in his decision to not listen to the advice given from the old-timer, furthermore describing him as “rather womanish”. As a newcomer to the Yukon, the man is depicted as having little knowledge and no experience of surviving in such cold temperatures and yet chooses to travel alone despite the advice given by the old-timer at Sulphur Creek. This is shown when London writes, “He remembered the advice of the old man on Sulphur Creek, and smiled. The man had been serious when he said that no man should travel alone in that country after 50 below zero. Well, here he was; he had had the accident; he was alone; and he saved himself” (London 72). His lack of foresight and imagination is manifest when he builds a fire under a spruce tree. By this time, his extremities are close to losing sensation and fire is viewed as a source of life and protection, vitally important to the man’s survival: “ He knew he must not fail. When it is 75 below zero, a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire” (71). The man is careful in his fire building however, overlooks the location of the fire which is beneath the trees. Although the man is resourceful but possibilities within nature can occur at any time and bring harm. The climax of the plot is reached when snow falls from the spruce trees above onto the man and smothers the fire simultaneously. The collapse of the snow occurs through the man’s failure to understand the consequences of the position of his fire, ultimately conveying that there are always potential risks for every action and one should be held accountable if it’s predictable. Fire represents humanity’s control over nature. The need to build a fire is imperative to stave off death and when the man fails to do so, his danger increases. With the loss of sensation due to the extreme weather, the man is unable to separate matches, which decreases his chance of survival. When the fire smothers, the man becomes humble and admits that the old man’s advice are right. However, the man refuses to consider the inevitable death and still focuses on practical steps towards survival. London suggests that humans are persistent as long as there is still chance. The man’s arrogance is punished in the narrative as he comes to recognize that he finally has no choice but to give into death. In addition the man is betrayed by his own hands which slowly shows the downfall of the man because without the ability to use his hands, he loses the ability to “overpower” nature. This is shown when the man accidently puts out the fire due to the lack of bodily control and he “was shock as if hearing his own judgment of death” (London 73). His rational knowledge becomes useless when his hands can’t follow the brain’s order. As desperation grows, the sight of the dog inspires him to kill it and use the corpse for warmth. The man is thinking like an animal, putting survival above all other considerations. London conveys that when people are strip down to the bare minimum, survival becomes priority no matter the complexity of the organism because living creatures all have one purpose during their lifetime and that is to live. Through the man’s death, London illuminates that arrogance and individualism are destructive forces because they can blind individuals in regards to making appropriate decisions. The desperation of the man, the indifference of nature towards humanity, and the man’s smallness within nature are notably clear throughout the narrative.