To Build A Fire, By Jack London

“To Build a Fire” is a short story that was written by Jack London in 1908. It tells the story of a man traveling through the woods in severely cold conditions, with only a dog and not nearly enough knowledge on how to make it back to his camp safely. While reading this, you notice several aspects of the man, specifically how he relates to his dog and the environment he is in.
From the beginning, you notice the man doesn’t really have a special relationship with his dog. In fact he seems to only appreciate him for the service he provides. In return, the dog isn’t loyal to the man, but obeys him out of fear. The man himself knows this, and it allows him to order the dog to do things against its better judgment. The dog also knows that the man holds a key role in his survival. He provides shelter and food, and while the dog knows far more about survival than the man, he
understands that he is better off sticking with him. The personal relationship between the dog and the man really isn’t anything more than a need for survival. In the story, the dogs thoughts and actions revolve around his survival and his fear.
The man has developed a specific relationship with him, using pain as a resource for obedience. Several times in the story the author mentions a specific tone in the man’s voice that reminds the dog of whips and causes him to listen to the man out of fear. The man has a similar mindset with nature as he does with the dog. He shows little fear towards it and he doesn’t realize the dangers of how he is travelling. From the beginning, you get a feeling that the man isn’t exactly accustomed to the the environment he is in. You can see that he isn’t used to the harsh weather conditions and that he might not be prepared for it. As you continue to read, it mentions how he was given a warning before he left saying that “After fifty-below a man should travel with a partner.” He begins to regret not listening to the other man as it becomes more obvious that he has never experienced the severe levels of cold that he was in. You notice this through his frequent mistakes that will, in the end, cost him his
life. His demise was caused by his inexperienced decisions. He continually makes life-threatening choices and doesn't realize the consequences until it is too late for him to do anything. For example, when he begins to realize the severity of his situation and after several failed fire attempts, he tries to take drastic measures in order to stay warm. He makes a decision that if he can catch and kill the dog, he can use his inner body warmth to save his own life. This goes back to his relationship with the dog, as he has no remorse for the idea of killing the dog since it could ensure his own survival. However, even as he tries to kill the dog he realizes it is impossible due to his frozen hands. This causes him to panic and he tries his only other real option; to run the rest of the way and hope it keeps him warm enough to survive. This of course ends in his death, which really helps show how unprepared the man was in his environment. While reading this story, you also notice the relationship between the man and the narrator. The author wrote the short story in a way where you can see all the man’s thoughts, yet it isn’t from his point of view. The narrator doesn’t do anything to make him seem a certain way or to create empathy he just focuses on telling the story as if it really happened. The narrator seems indifferent to the man and his story. This actually lets us see more clearly how his relationships were with the other aspects of the story.