Literary Devices In To Build A Fire By Jack London

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In the short story “To Build a Fire” written by Jack London, the story utilizes literary devices in order to establish the tone of the story. From the very beginning, the narrator who is a non-participant in the story slips several devices such as the setting and atmosphere, writing style, as well as figurative language. These various devices were used in order to help the reader understand the mood which in turn would also help the reader understand the tone of the story. The story of a lone man walking in such harsh conditions who is attempting to survive, will enhance the mood and tone of the story to allow the reader to fully understand what happened. London was able to portray a good part of the tone through showing the setting of The use of dramatic irony allowed the reader to gain a perspective that gave them an up over the main character, “Undoubtedly it was colder than fifty below-how much colder he did not know. But the temperature did not matter. He was bound for the old claim on the left fork of Henderson Creek, where the boys were already” (London, 125). After reading this quotation closer to the start of the story, there is a feeling which indicates that disaster may be in the future. In this case, when he mentioned how cold it was and that he was alone with his friends waiting at the end point, it made the reader question whether or not he would actually reach that final destination. Later in the story, he mentions how he seems to think that he is an advanced hiker and that people who told him he should take the trip with someone, were wrong. By hearing this, the narrator indicates to the reader that a tragedy was in the making while the man was completely oblivious to this. Dramatic irony had allowed the tone be set by giving insight to the readers and keeping the characters in the story act as they truly would in a situation like

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