Nature in Jack London´s To Build a Fire

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People always tell you to listen to your gut. However, all goes wrong for the poor character in Jack London’s (1876-1916) To Build a Fire when he wants to trust his gut. In the story, a mountain man explains to him how dangerous it is to venture out alone in incredibly freezing circumstances. Being the confident man that he is, he did not listen to the advice. It soon turns into a story of a man’s lonely road to try to survive. He finds a silent companion that cannot seem to help him. He then falls into a soft spot and gets wet to the knees. He knew he was in danger and he had to get a fire together fast. However, more bad luck came his way when we were building a fire and snow fell on it. He then had to hurry to build a new one, however it was to no avail. His fingers were to cold to rebuild a fire, so there was nothing that he could do. There are three reasons why the theme that nature is more powerful that sometimes assumed works so well in Jack London’s To Build a Fire.
The first reason that they theme of human versus nature works so well in Jack London’s To Build a Fire, is because of the setting. There are not very many people that would jump at the idea to be alone in the woods in well below freezing temperatures. However the character in this story does not seem to have much of a problem with it. He is very confident in his abilities to handle to outdoors, with no other companions. Except for one companion that he meets along the way, a dog. The dog is very silent and just goes along and watches the man try to survive when the worst happens. The man was earlier warned by an old timer how nature can make things more difficult. However, he did not listen to the man and later learned throughout the story that was a terrible mistake. The setting in the story was something that not people come into contact with. “But the circulation of wet and freeing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below.” (Page 605) Many people can easily die when it is that cold outside, making the setting of the story a problem that needed to be over come.

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