To Build a Fire

When Jack London was young, he spent a very influential part of his life mining for gold in the arctic north and returned to the States a changed man.

At the start of the story, a man walks into the woods with his dog in search of wood to build a fire. He eventually abandons the main trail, having hidden food beneath his clothes and against his skin to keep it warm. To shorten his walk, he walks down to a creek bed; as he walks, he realizes that it is dangerous and throws his dog in front of him to ensure that the creek bed is safe to walk on; however, the dog falls in. He sits on a log and removes the food from his body, attempting to take a bite only to discover that his mouth is frozen from the tobacco spit that has dried on his beard.

After constructing a fire and eating the food, he begins walking on the creek bed, breaks the ice, and falls in, soaking his feet. He starts a fire, but it quickly goes out, and he tries to start another, but his hands are so numb that he fails. He tries to kill the dog to get some warmth because he knows it's impossible to build another fire, but his hands are becoming number by the second and he can't feel them. So, in a rush, he tries to run to camp, but as he runs, he realizes he will die and accepts this fact, so he sits in the snow. Some time later, the dog approaches the man slowly, smells the putrid stench of death, howls at the sky, and walks away towards camp.

Author's Note

The author chose to include in the story that life goes on even when we are no longer around. We can see this when the author included the part of the story of when the dog walked away from the frozen character to get warmth and food from a different person. He no longer cared for his "master", he only cared for his coldness and hunger.

Reviews

[Paul Bell]

That changes the analogy, man's best friend. Now reads, man's best friend till you pop your clogs.
I suppose in the wilderness, life really is fickle.
Trying to remember London's book now. Was it, white fang.

[Samuel Dickens]

I've loved this story and the work of Jack London ever since I read it in high school. Now rather old and in not so good health, I relish the idea of surviving in the wilderness. (In my dreams, I can do anything) Thank you for awakening the memory.