A Few Thoughts on "To Build a Fire"

“He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances.”
(London p.115)- The narrator asserts that this was the man's true problem, of which he was unaware. His ability for awareness and self reflection only grow and developed the closer he gets to his end, and the essential end of the story.

Yes, the descriptors of the Yukon were cold, and beautiful - well written and vivid. What I found to be really interesting though, was how stark and cold the inner monologue of the protagonist was; a suitable parallel to the story in many ways. This simple thought process though, is what brought about his downfall. He made many, many mistakes; he was making mistakes long before he ever went out that day.

One instance that really struck me was when his hands were frozen, and his first thought was to kill the dog by brute force after tricking it to come to him. -It simply never occured to him to do things an easier way. He had never been kind to the dog, and so the dog did not trust him. He wanted to gain warmth by putting his hands inside the carcass of it's body, but he might have been better served had he curled up with, and been willing to be close to the dog.

The thing about the Yukon that differs from the protagonist is that the Yukon is far more complex, and fierce than the man expected. The man was a simple, and yet often overly confident to his own detriment. Ultimately I suspect the way in which he succumbed to the winter was probably the most graceful moment in his life.


If this story were to be set in Greece, I think it would have most of the markings of a true Aristotelian tragedy. -For example, there was the reversal of fortune brought about by hamartia, and his growing awareness throughout the story. "To Build a Fire" is a story filled with hamartia and hubris, and contains a catharsis in the conclusion where the protagonist meets his end.



The ways in which I believe this does not necessarily fit the tragedy is that the protagonist was not in a stately position to begin with, and the story was simple in it's complexity. Ultimately I think that if Greece was cold, and the man were a king, we might be able to get "To Build a Fire" to fit the mold of the Greek tragedy.


I really enjoyed "To Build a Fire" by Jack London,and I've discovered this semester that I have a great love of tragedy as well as third person omniscient narration. I like to see the bits and pieces of a work, as well as seeing the bits and pieces of the inner-workings of the characters in a given story.

Here are links to interesting websites devoted to all things Jack London: http://london.sonoma.edu/ and http://www.jack-london.org/main_e.htm

Submitted by Katherine McGondel-Wininger