Character Development In To Build A Fire

The Effects of Natural Settings and Character Development in “To Build a Fire” by Jack London In the short story, “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, a very descriptive third-person narrator describes the long and treacherous journey of an over-confident and non-instinctive man across the Yukon. The reader learns that the incautious man’s journey ends in death after he admits his mistake in not following the old-timer’s advice; finally considering the “old-timer” as wise (553). This plot, though progressively straightforward, leads the reader into a gripping experience of survival. The story’s setting and the main character’s reactions contribute greatly to this ever-increasing atmosphere of survival, as London’s detailed descriptions of the environment and the main character’s destruction cause the reader to dread and fear the grave

The reader responds with a sense of death and lifelessness to the fact that the environment is “exceedingly cold and grey” and nature does not show mercy to unwary travelers. In accompanying the main character’s reactions in an unforgiving environment that gradually sucks the life out of living beings, the readers’ feeling of the story’s atmosphere of survival increases; then, convinced by the death of the main character, the reader is troubled by the disturbing consequences that come along with over-confidence and incautiousness. London’s use of setting in this story mirrors the special effects and settings employed in survival shows and movies – effects and settings that totally absorb the viewers in plot and atmosphere. It is impressive that a six-page story can evoke with words the same response that directors use millions of dollars and truckloads of technology to