![]() ![]() Then, in a series of small failures, the man’s flaws come to a head and he meets his demise. The man stops for lunch and his ease in building a fire gives further proof to his idea that the “old timer” was being wimpy. Even as the man realizes it is colder than he originally believed, his thoughts on the matter are no more severe than, “What were frosted cheeks? A bit painful, that was all they were never serious.” The man is determined to make it to his friends at any cost, ignoring the advice of the “old-timer” who he considers to be “womanish” for suggesting no one should travel alone in temperatures colder than fifty below. ![]() The man suspects that the temperature is much colder than fifty degrees below zero, yet, to him, “the temperature did not matter.” In contrast, the dog, who uses his primitive animal instincts rather than an advanced human brain, knows it is too cold to travel, but is forced to go on with the man. Because it is a short story, in order to fully discuss, spoilers are ahead! London shows us the man’s ignorance with the line, “That there should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never entered his head.” This hint of the man’s lack of skill and experience is a bit of foreshadowing of the disasters to come. He knows it’s tremendously cold, but this fact “made no impression on the man.” Fifty degrees below zero means little more to him than having to wear mittens and earflaps. We never learn the name of the man, but we see almost immediately something about the way the man has so much confidence that it spills over into arrogance and stupidity. In the short story, “To Build a Fire,” Jack London creates a character that is very easy to identify with because of his flaws.
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