To Build a Fire | Jack London | Summary Notes | Neb English Support Class 12

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To Build a Fire | Jack London | Summary Notes | Neb English Support Class 12

To build a fire 

ABOUT THE STORY

To build a fire by Jack London

"To Build a Fire" is a short adventurous story written by American author Jack London. It was first published in Century Magazine in 1908. This story is about a man in the Yukon territory. He faces extremely cold weather. He doesn't have idea about the toughness of the environment and goes out alone despite the warnings of expert. The story shows his struggle for existence in the freezing wilderness. This story mainly highlights the power of nature which is unpredictable. For him, his struggle against the cold becomes a big challenge. The story presented the clash between people and nature. We find various themes here in this story such as survival, struggle for existence, man vs nature, power of nature etc.

FULL PLOT SUMMARY

To build a fire by Jack London

This story starts with a man. He is unnamed here in this story. He is the main character of the story. He is referred to as "the man". We find him on a trail in Yukon. The place where he is right now is a really cold and lonely place with lots of snow. The temperature in the setting is −75 degrees F. He is a newcomer to Yukon. He is travelling by himself with only his dog. They're moving to a camp where he'll meet up with his companions.

The man seems quite joyous about his lunch, which he carries. He is also excited to see his friends that night. He doesn't seem worried about the freezing cold, even though his lips have been frozen. But the dog is worried in this space and thinks about the man and decides whether he should find shelter or build a fire. The omniscient narrator also comments that the man doesn't realise the danger because he has a narrow perspective and doesn't understand it well.

The man walks along a frozen creek, seeing areas where water has turned into ice, forming pools in which he could get very wet if he fell. He has an idea that wet feet would create a problem and slow him down in his journey. But he doesn't really think about how bad it could be. Still, he seems careful on the ice. At one point, he makes his dog move ahead on risky ice. The dog falls in. The dog gets out, but the water in its legs and paws freezes immediately. It bites the ice off, and the man also helps it get the ice off its paws.

Around midday, the man feels pleased about the progress he's made. When he sits down and tries to eat his lunch, he's surprised to discover that his hands have become numb and his mouth has frozen over. He has quite a bit of difficulty eating his lunch. At this point, he realises that he needs warmth from building a fire. He remembers a man from Sulphur Creek. That man had given his warning regarding the cold, which he had ignored. He carefully builds a fire, eats his lunch, and smokes his pipe. He starts his journey again. The dog feels good to get the warmth of the fire. It is hesitant to leave this warmth and continue its journey. But its instincts suggest that finding shelter is a better idea than walking in the cold.

Both the man and the dog keep going along the creek. But the man accidentally falls into a pool and gets his knees wet. He becomes upset, but not scared. To dry his socks and shoes, he needs to build a fire again. He carefully builds it with grass, bark, and sticks of different sizes. The narrator points out that it's very important to warm up fast when it's really cold and your feet are wet. The man again recalls the advice from the old man at Sulphur Creek. He realises his hands are getting numb, and he can't feel his feet anymore.

Now that the man has stopped moving ahead. He senses the cold in his running blood. It seems to be sinking away from his hands, feet, and skin to avoid the cold. He is shocked to find his hands numb, and his face freezes so fast, but he is still sure about his fire getting bigger. He plans to warm his moccasins and feet by the fire. He remembers the old man from Sulphur Creek, his warning against travelling alone in such cold weather, and his laugh. The man feels sure that he's kept himself safe.

However, bad luck hits. The man has built his fire under a snow-covered tree. When he grabs sticks, snow falls off the branches. The snow puts out his fire. Now, he starts to realise that he's having serious problems. In this critical situation, he wonders if having a companion on the trip who could build a second fire might have been a good idea. But he has to try building another fire on his own.

He gathers dry grass, sticks, and branches in an open spot. The dog watches the man being so anxious. It relies on man for the safety and warmth of the fire. The man tries to search for his piece of tree bark but can't find it. He feels that his feet are freezing. He starts hitting his hands to regain feeling and find the bark. He envies seeing the dog's warm fur while struggling to light his match. However, his numb hands can't pull off a match, and he drops all the matches in the snow. He even tries his best to light one with his teeth, but he can't. He ends up coughing and dropping it in the snow.

The man gets more desperate. He lights up all seventy matches together. While trying to light the bark of the tree, he burns his hands so badly. Eventually, he manages to light the bark. He works on building up the fire, using both his hands and teeth. Unfortunately, he scatters the fire accidentally, and it goes out. The man notices that the dog is watching him nervously. At this point, the man considers that he must kill the dog to use its warm body to defrost his frozen hands.

When the man calls the dog, the dog feels scared to hear the man's voice. It finds his voice quite strange and doesn't obey. The man tries to crawl towards the dog, but it moves away from him. When the man manages to stand, it gives the dog so much reassurance that he can hold it with his hands because his hands are so frozen. He understands that his hands are too frozen to harm the dog. He starts beating his frozen hands. Even after beating his hands for five minutes, he isn't successful in bringing the feeling of his hands back.

The man realises that his life is at risk. Being so panicked, he runs up the creek, with the dog following behind. He is in a dilemmatic state, with the hope that he can somehow run to the camp. He also has the knowledge that he is too frozen to make it possible. As he runs, he can't even feel his feet. When he falls, he feels warm and comfortable, though he loses feeling in his face. This frightens him a lot, and he tries to run again but falls once again. He feels annoyed by the dog's apparent warmth; he yells at it and finally runs again. This time, he only manages to fall a hundred feet before falling again.

Now, the man realises that he's going to die. He pictures himself as one of "the boys" who is coming down the trail and finding his body in the snow. In his thoughts, he admits that whatever the old man at Sulphur Creek said was right. He peacefully falls asleep as he freezes to death. The dog is so puzzled to see the man sleeping but not building a fire. It stays there for some time. Eventually, it gets the idea that the man is no more. It goes alone up the trail, leaving the dead body. It keeps looking for other people who can provide food and warmth.

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