Author: Jack London (American, 1876-1916)
Published: 1908
Category: Man and Nature
Text: Classic Reader
Summary:
A newcomer to the Yukon ventures out in -75 degree weather with one husky and no sled, only to freeze to death.
Points of Interest:
The story details a man's thoughts and actions as he blithely walks across a frozen and unforgiving landscape. While he makes a study of the world around him he has no real sense of his place within it; in the end, he pins his hope of survival on building a fire which nature quickly extinguishes. The dogs instinctive actions and musings are described in counterpoint.
The title To Build a Fire echoes the adage "It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness"; here, the protagonist is unaware that he is 'in the dark' and by the time he realizes he should 'build a fire' it is too late. We are left with a sense that lighting a candle is just as ineffective against the darkness, if one is blind.
