To Build a Fire(1910)

 "To Build a Fire", written by Jack London takes place in Yukon, Alaska. As one can imagine, the story has a lot to do with snow and traveling in the snow. The story's setting deals with the man's struggling journey across snow, in the middle of nowhere. The protagonist is all alone, and had an unfortunate accident. He has no choice but to try to get back to his camp, miles away. Throughout the story, the author describes the grueling freezing temperatures the protagonist has to endure. The protagonist never knew what the exact temperature was outside, but he estimated the temperature to be 55 degrees below zero, "He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow, but this spittle cracked in the air," (pg. 107). With that description about his spit crackling in the air, one can imagine the environment being extremely cold. It was so cold outside, that the main character's facial hair were starting to frost into ice:"The man's red beard and mustache were likewise frosted,"(pg. 108).  It was too cold to be outside, but the protagonist, unfortunately, kept on going.


  This picture reminds me of the native husky that followed our protagonist. The dog was always trailing behind the main character. Even though the dog knew that the weather condition was bad, he still kept following the main character: "The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold,"(pg. 108). The dog in this picture also looks very cold and tired, just as the dog in the story. 



This tree reminds me of the part where the main character decided to make a fire under the tree after he fell into some shallow water. He decided to start a fire, but made the wrong decision in starting the fire under a tree. When it was already too late, the main character realized that he should not have made the fire under a tree because the snow can fall and kill his fire.





















This is how I pictured the protagonist from the story. The protagonist was not carrying anything except the clothes he had on and a couple of biscuits he tucked in his shirt. In "To Build a Fire", the protagonist had to walk many miles in the snow. It was 75 degrees below zero, which made it a struggle for the main character to walk a lot of miles in a short amount of time. He also had to be careful about losing sensation on his face, legs, and hands. 

















The main character looked forward to reaching camp by 6 o'clock and seeing his friends again. For most of his journey through the terribly cold weather, the main character tried to keep calm and in multiple occasions thought about his arrival back at the campsite: "He would be back in camp by 6 o'clock; a bit after dark, it was true, but the boys would be there, a fire would be going, and a hot supper would be ready,"(pg.107).





















I picked this picture because it reminds me of the very faint trail the main character was following. The Jack London described that it was a very gray day, but with no clouds in the sky. I did not picture the main character being stuck in a blizzard, instead, I pictured the protagonist surrounded by lots of snow. London also described that the sun was not out, and there is no sun peeking through in this picture.