“To Build a Fire” (1908)

Jack London

Jack London (1876-1916) Prolific writer of The Call of the Wild (1903), The

Sea-Wolf (1904), and 18 other novels, 200 stories, over 400 nonfiction works

First American writer to become millionaire from being an author

Born San Francisco, father abandoned family Supported himself working from age 13, walked

across U.S. as labor protestor 1893 experience at sea led to his first publication,

“Story of a Typhoon off the Coast of Japan”

Jack London (1876-1916)

Attended UC-Berkeley for one semester in 1896 Traveled in Yukon in winter 1897 Involved in socialist movement as a lecturer and

politician: ran twice for mayor of Oakland as socialist Embraced both the socialism of Karl Marx and the

“superman” ideal of Nietzsche—ideas expressed in his autobiographical novel Martin Eden (1909)

Jack London (1876-1916)

Crossed the Pacific in small boat (1907-09); helped popularize Hawaii as tourist destination

Married twice; his second wife Charmian was a “New Woman” who accompanied him in his travels, inspired some female characters

Ranch at Glen Ellen, California

Nature vs. Civilization

“To Build a Fire” is a classic study of this theme, through the contrast it sets up between man and dog in a fierce environment

First published as a boy’s story (2,700 words) in The Youth’s Companion, 1902; the expanded version (7,235 words) appeared in The Century Magazine in 1908

The Man

Opening paragraphs (1-4): what the man notices: His Watch (control of time): lunch at 12:30 p.m.,

arrival to “boys” at Henderson Creek forks camp at 6 p.m.

No sun: “intangible pall over the face of things” “dark hair-line” trail cold

Characterization of the man(1) “The trouble with him was that he was without

imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances” (pg 2, lines 24-25) “keenly observant” (pg 6, line 108)

No impression: “mysterious trail,” sun, cold: no sense of “mystery,” “strangeness and weirdness”

A “newcomer in the land”: first winter (pg 2, lines 23-25)

Difference in opinions regarding

how cold it was.

Characterization of the man from his OWN thoughts Man’s perception of cold

“Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero” (pg 2, line 33)

“the temperature did not matter” (pg 2, line 39) Ice from chewing tobacco: “he did not mind the

appendage” (pg 4, line 80) “What were frosted cheeks? A bit painful, that was

all” (pg 5, line107) “It certainly was cold”; “It was cold” (pg 8,

lines165-170)

Characterization of Man from the words of the Narrator Narrator’s perception of cold

“man's frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold” (pg 2, line 29)

“The cold of space smote the unprotected tip of the planet, and he, being on that unprotected tip, received the full force of the blow” (pg 11, lines 228-229)

Characterization of Man from the actions and thoughts of Dog Not introduced until page 3, line 57. Why?

Wolf dog “Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the

man by the man’s judgment” (pg 3, line 60-61) Instinct points to reality: “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

Its ancestry knew cold, man’s didn’t (pg 9, lines 180-184)

The “old-timer on Sulphur Creek” Represents (YES, A SYMBOL) of experience

Also, the ability of humans to pass on experience

Problem: man’s lack of imagination means that old timer’s advice makes no impression on him. (See page 12.)

Man vs. Dog

Wants man to build fire (pg 4, lines 70-71) Dog is man’s “toil-slave” (pg 9, line 188)

Toil-slave = one who performs hard labor without receiving credit or reward

“no keen intimacy between the dog and the man”

“So the dog made no effort to communicate its apprehension to the man. It was not concerned in the welfare of the man”

Man vs. Dog (3)

Page 6-7, lines 122-145: a study of man-dog relationship Man uses dog to test ice; dog gets wet Dog obeys “mysterious prompting that arose from

the deep crypts of its being” and bites off ice Man, using judgment, NOW assists the dog

Plot Line – A Series of Accidents Built a fire to “thaw out” (pg 8) so he could

open his frozen mouth to eat his sandwich. Breaks through ice (pg 10) Builds fire under spruce tree so that he could

“dry out his foot-gear” Avalanche of snow snuffs out fire b/c he built

2nd fire under a spruce tree (pg 13)

Tries to start 3rd fire. Lights all the matches, burns flesh, lights bark (page 14) Page 15, lines 304-318 describe his trouble in

trying to reach the matches—his hands are too cold

Page 16, lines 330-343 describe him trying to strike the matches along his leg, thus burning his flesh

Page 17, lines 344-360 describe him feeding the fire with twigs and grass and birch-bark

HOWEVER, he drops some green moss (FRESH) into the fire—it could snuff it out!!

his hands are shaking so bad because of the cold, so he accidentally snuffs out the fire— “disrupted the nucleus of the fire.” (pg 17, line 353

Detachment from Body

“The man looked down at his hands in order to locate them, and found them hanging on the ends of his arms. It struck him as curious that one should have to use his eyes in order to find out where his hands were” (pg 19)

“It struck him as curious that he could run at all on feet so frozen that he could not feel them when they struck the earth and took the weight of his body. He seemed to himself to skim along above the surface, and to have no connection with the earth” (pg 20)

Rise of Imagination

“wild idea” (from tale about man killing steer); “He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body” (pg 17): steal the dog’s natural advantage.

“Somewhere he had once seen a winged Mercury, and he wondered if Mercury felt as he felt when skimming over the earth” (pg 20)

“He pictured the boys finding his body next day. Suddenly he found himself with them, coming along the trail and looking for himself” (pg 22)

Acceptance of Death

Fear and panic (pg 19-20) Run to camp—yeah, that’s smart! Realized he should meet “death with dignity”.

He was going to “freeze anyway”, might as well “take it decently” (pg 21, lines 439-452)

Admission of mistake to old-timer of “Sulphur Creek”: “You were right, old hoss” (pg 22)

“the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known” (pg 22)

Conclusion (¶39)

Dog moves on: “eager yearning for fire mastered it” Senses death: master has failed Delays Goes to “to other food providers and fire-

providers” Nature triumphs:

“the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky”