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To Build a Fire
This website focuses on the key literary elements of Jack London's To Build a Fire. The story follows a man and his dog through their treacherous journey on the Yukon Trail in Alaska. London's use of vivid imagery and powerful emotion allowed the reader to more easily connect to the characters in the story.
This picture depicts the Yukon Trail which the man in To Build a Fire fatally travels on.
It's safe to say that Jack London's To Build a Fire is a direct presentation of the aspects of naturalism. Naturalism is all about a person or thing being conditioned by an outside force. In this story, the force happens to be nature (or the cold more specifically). The traveler in the story is greatly affected because he physically falls apart due to the extreme cold. His hands begin to numb and he has no feeling in his feet. The ultimate consequence of the cold however was that the mans body could no longer function properly and in turn he died.
Characterization
In To Build a Fire, Jack London really only uses two characters in the story; the man and his dog. Although there are only two characters, London's use of characterization is widely noticed as the story goes on. At first, the traveler is naive about the conditions he is soon to face on the trail but as the journey progresses, he learns that the legends from the old-timer at Sulphur Creek are becoming true. The saying "no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below," dwindled in the man's head as he was overcome by the cold. It was not until further into the story that the man realized he should have prepared himself better for the conditions on the trail.
As for the man's faithful companion, he did not greatly change throughout the story. He was very scared since the beginning of the story and although his canine sense told him it wasn't a good idea, he was very unwilling to leave the "fire provider".
Conflict
There were many closely related conflicts in the story that all aroused from the same source: the cold. One conflict is the travelers inability to keep warm. He underestimated the extent of the temperature and as a result lost the feeling in his extremities (hands and feet).
http://photo.minghui.org/images/u_persecution/witness_of_torture/images/2001-4-29-foot1.jpg (This link shows frost bitten toes probably similar to the mans in the story). Also, it was very hard for the man to solve this conflict because it was very difficult for him to build a fire. Although he succeeded at one point, London describes the snow falling atop the fire, "It grew like an avalanche, and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out!" In this particular paragraph you could directly feel the distress the man was feeling when he failed to provide warmth to himself. He even stated, "It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death."
Setting
This story takes place about 70 miles south of Dawson, Yukon Territory, Canada [1]. It focuses around the time of the Klondike Gold Rush which started in 1897 [2].
Elements of Humor
This story is not a particularly humorous one considering the fact that the man in the story is on the verge of death. As he travels the Yukon Trail he is faced with various confrontations that challenge his own survival.
Irony
One use of irony can be seen as dramatic irony. Although the man in the story understands that it is very cold, he does not know exactly how cold it is. The narrator informs us however that it is much colder than fifty below. He states, "In reality, it was not merely colder than fifty below zero; it was colder than sixty below, than seventy below. It was seventy-five below zero."
Theme
The central theme of this story is to listen to what others have to say. Throughout the whole story, the man is remembering advice the old-timer on Sulphur Creek told him. He did not follow this advice however and ended up paying the ultimate price. One useful tip he gave him was to never travel if the temperature was fifty below zero or worse. Also he stated not to travel alone. Although the man was accompanied by a dog, the dog could not help him build a fire or help him find food like a human companion could. Both these points were vital to the mans survival, but since he failed to follow either one of them, he was not able to salvage his life.
Symbolism
Since the setting in To Build a Fire was very limited, there was not much room for symbolism in the story. One might say however that the dog symbolized the intelligent part of the mans mind because the dogs gut told him the journey should not continue.
Motivation
The motivation in this story exists in the mans desire to reach his friends. To do this however he must travel through the arctic Yukon Trail. The conditions there are undesirable and although he has a goal to reach (the other men), his desire to travel through these conditions cannot be found. To know the extremity of the situation and to continue to travel does not make sense. It is easy to assume that the mans lack of appropriate knowledge of the surroundings did not mask his long term goal to reach his destination.
History of the story
The Klondike Gold Rush of 1987 was a huge movement that started in July of that year. News spread about the recent discovery of the shiny yellow metal by means of men from two ships that docked in San Fransico and Seattle. The two ships brought numerous men all carrying loads of gold. This presentation sparked the interest of at least 100,000 men who wished to complete the journey as well. These men were called stampeders. At the end of the six months of madness, an estimated 30,000 were the only ones to make it to their destination (out of the starting 100,000). Of these 30,000 we many disappointed men. At the final destination, Dawson City, the stampeders came to find most all of the gold to be previously claimed by townsmen, or impossible to reach. The miners had to thaw the layer of permafrost on the ground before they could even think about beginning to dig. Then the miner must dig at least ten feet below the surface to reach his prized possession [3].
These pictures show some of the harsh realities of the "get rich quick" motive.
[4]
Bibliography
[1] Walker, Dale. "“Day had broken cold and gray,...."part XV of a series." Jack London: The Stories. The World of Jack London. 19 Feb 2008 http://www.jacklondons.net/writings/shortFiction/part15.html.
[2] "To Build a Fire: Historical Context." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 7. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 19 February 2008. http://www.enotes.com/build-fire/historical-context.
[3] "Klondike Gold Rush Yukon Territory 1897." Adventure Learning Foundation. 19 Feb 2008 http://www.questconnect.org/ak_klondike.htm.
[4] Spartz, India M.. "On the trail." Gold Rush Centennial Photographs 1893-1916. 14 1 1999. Alaska State Library. 19 Feb 2008 http://library.state.ak.us/hist/goldrush/table.html.
This picture depicts the Yukon Trail which the man in To Build a Fire fatally travels on.
It's safe to say that Jack London's To Build a Fire is a direct presentation of the aspects of naturalism. Naturalism is all about a person or thing being conditioned by an outside force. In this story, the force happens to be nature (or the cold more specifically). The traveler in the story is greatly affected because he physically falls apart due to the extreme cold. His hands begin to numb and he has no feeling in his feet. The ultimate consequence of the cold however was that the mans body could no longer function properly and in turn he died.
Characterization
In To Build a Fire, Jack London really only uses two characters in the story; the man and his dog. Although there are only two characters, London's use of characterization is widely noticed as the story goes on. At first, the traveler is naive about the conditions he is soon to face on the trail but as the journey progresses, he learns that the legends from the old-timer at Sulphur Creek are becoming true. The saying "no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below," dwindled in the man's head as he was overcome by the cold. It was not until further into the story that the man realized he should have prepared himself better for the conditions on the trail.
As for the man's faithful companion, he did not greatly change throughout the story. He was very scared since the beginning of the story and although his canine sense told him it wasn't a good idea, he was very unwilling to leave the "fire provider".
Conflict
There were many closely related conflicts in the story that all aroused from the same source: the cold. One conflict is the travelers inability to keep warm. He underestimated the extent of the temperature and as a result lost the feeling in his extremities (hands and feet).
http://photo.minghui.org/images/u_persecution/witness_of_torture/images/2001-4-29-foot1.jpg (This link shows frost bitten toes probably similar to the mans in the story). Also, it was very hard for the man to solve this conflict because it was very difficult for him to build a fire. Although he succeeded at one point, London describes the snow falling atop the fire, "It grew like an avalanche, and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out!" In this particular paragraph you could directly feel the distress the man was feeling when he failed to provide warmth to himself. He even stated, "It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death."
Setting
This story takes place about 70 miles south of Dawson, Yukon Territory, Canada [1]. It focuses around the time of the Klondike Gold Rush which started in 1897 [2].
Elements of Humor
This story is not a particularly humorous one considering the fact that the man in the story is on the verge of death. As he travels the Yukon Trail he is faced with various confrontations that challenge his own survival.
Irony
One use of irony can be seen as dramatic irony. Although the man in the story understands that it is very cold, he does not know exactly how cold it is. The narrator informs us however that it is much colder than fifty below. He states, "In reality, it was not merely colder than fifty below zero; it was colder than sixty below, than seventy below. It was seventy-five below zero."
Theme
The central theme of this story is to listen to what others have to say. Throughout the whole story, the man is remembering advice the old-timer on Sulphur Creek told him. He did not follow this advice however and ended up paying the ultimate price. One useful tip he gave him was to never travel if the temperature was fifty below zero or worse. Also he stated not to travel alone. Although the man was accompanied by a dog, the dog could not help him build a fire or help him find food like a human companion could. Both these points were vital to the mans survival, but since he failed to follow either one of them, he was not able to salvage his life.
Symbolism
Since the setting in To Build a Fire was very limited, there was not much room for symbolism in the story. One might say however that the dog symbolized the intelligent part of the mans mind because the dogs gut told him the journey should not continue.
Motivation
The motivation in this story exists in the mans desire to reach his friends. To do this however he must travel through the arctic Yukon Trail. The conditions there are undesirable and although he has a goal to reach (the other men), his desire to travel through these conditions cannot be found. To know the extremity of the situation and to continue to travel does not make sense. It is easy to assume that the mans lack of appropriate knowledge of the surroundings did not mask his long term goal to reach his destination.
History of the story
The Klondike Gold Rush of 1987 was a huge movement that started in July of that year. News spread about the recent discovery of the shiny yellow metal by means of men from two ships that docked in San Fransico and Seattle. The two ships brought numerous men all carrying loads of gold. This presentation sparked the interest of at least 100,000 men who wished to complete the journey as well. These men were called stampeders. At the end of the six months of madness, an estimated 30,000 were the only ones to make it to their destination (out of the starting 100,000). Of these 30,000 we many disappointed men. At the final destination, Dawson City, the stampeders came to find most all of the gold to be previously claimed by townsmen, or impossible to reach. The miners had to thaw the layer of permafrost on the ground before they could even think about beginning to dig. Then the miner must dig at least ten feet below the surface to reach his prized possession [3].
These pictures show some of the harsh realities of the "get rich quick" motive.
[4]Bibliography
[1] Walker, Dale. "“Day had broken cold and gray,...."part XV of a series." Jack London: The Stories. The World of Jack London. 19 Feb 2008 http://www.jacklondons.net/writings/shortFiction/part15.html.
[2] "To Build a Fire: Historical Context." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 7. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 19 February 2008. http://www.enotes.com/build-fire/historical-context.
[3] "Klondike Gold Rush Yukon Territory 1897." Adventure Learning Foundation. 19 Feb 2008 http://www.questconnect.org/ak_klondike.htm.
[4] Spartz, India M.. "On the trail." Gold Rush Centennial Photographs 1893-1916. 14 1 1999. Alaska State Library. 19 Feb 2008 http://library.state.ak.us/hist/goldrush/table.html.
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