To Build a Fire

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To Build a Fire

The story of a miner and his dog happens in Canada, specifically in the Yukon territory. Thousands of miners, more precisely young men, went to Yukon after the discovery of gold in that territory. The majority of those who went never got rich and a significant number died as a result of harsh conditions. It is cold and freezing as the ice and snow blankets the Yukon land, not to mention the temperature is 50 degrees more below zero. The blowing wind and cold have pushed the miner to the limit, and he is down and done. As London indicates, his beard and face are sleeved by ice, and every breath taken by him freezes it even further (London, 2019). According to story, the man is chewing freezing tobacco, which even worse as it making the ice on his face.

The place is also dark. Areas close to the arctic circle barely receive the sun during the winter season. For days now, the man has not seen the sun, and that could even continue to a few more days before the cheerful orb could glance above the sky-line and immediately dip from the view (London, 2019). Paraphrased quoted represents the highlight of the story setting. The miner and his dog went to an inhospitable and hostile world. In the story setting, the peeping of the sun could only last for a few minutes. London uses the word “cheerful” in the passage to indicate that it was only through the sun and fire, the mine is capable of contemplating beyond the misery set up. The happiness and man’s safety are represented by warmth. Based on the analysis of the story, the dog is using the man as the mere means of getting food and fire as opposed to being loyal.

The man’s character in the story “To Build a Fire” seems as naïve and unimaginative. Perhaps, his intelligence is undeniable, but his erroneous judgments make him ignore the perils he encounters in the Yukon. His little imagination projects him to think that he can overcome nature and could not envision the hostility of the winter. The dog accompanying the man is a necessary tool but not a companion. Some insights from the old-times and signals of his dog play no part in convincing the man as he consistently underestimates his environmental dangers. The man eventually dies falling victim of an unforgiving, frozen landscape, filing to adjust his thinking mode enough to survive. The man has a cold personality, not to mention he is full of pride and hubris (London, 2019). Nonetheless, the man shows no compassion to his dog, treating it brutally.

As much as the dog seems to have simple thoughts, its understanding has more extraordinary instincts of assessing his situation and the surroundings as opposed to that human companion. The dog is troubled by the extreme cold, and it yearns for a shelter and a fire. It has a skittish and untrusting attitude towards the man and only follows him out of fear and a prerequisite to survive and not loyalty. Similar to most dogs around Yukon, it also husky and equipped to endure extreme climate. To the man, the dog serves as a warning system and shows reluctancy to follow the man and extra vigilant in his steps across the ice (London, 2019). By following his instincts, the dog eventually survives as it was able to sense the natural pitfalls and the man’s killer instincts to end his life to keep warm.

The words of the old-timer reflect in each horrible situation the man faces, although he does not appear in the scene. The old-timer offered insight into the man of the best way to approach nature’s hazards “never travel alone!” (London, 2019). He is a mental companion to the man, whom the man has a mixed reaction concerning the old-timer’s sage. While the man was grappling to survive, their conversation snippets vividly appeared in the accounts the man was building a fire. The old-timer serves as an example of a person well adapted to his environment, having awareness, or rather the desire to listen and accomplish colleagues-needed for survival. The man is irreversibly doomed eventually by dishonoring the old-timer’s advice.

Works Cited

London, Jack. To build a fire. Strelbytskyy Multimedia Publishing, 2019.