Jack London To Build A Fire Analysis

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In many stories the setting can impact the characters, like in Jack London “To Build a Fire”. This story is about a man that has set off on a trip to get to Klondike. He is put through many obstacles. He ends up not completing his trip as planned. The setting in “To Build a Fire” impacted the man emotionally, physically, and mentally. One way that was impacted was the man’s emotions. At the beginning of his journey he was very confident that he was going to Klondike in no time. He thought that he was he king of the world when he saved himself. Near the middle of his journey he started to lose that confident. As if he had regretted that he had not taken the “old timers” advice. Also, he started to become desperate for warmth. Just like anyone would if put in this situation. According to him “Running would not thaw them out. Nor would it thaw out his hands and feet. Then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending.”(9). Then, he started to have hallucinations about seeing things. His hallucinations were probably lack of nutrients. When we went the only things he took with them were biscuits, matches, wore thick layers, and his dog. In other words he was not prepared enough for this long journey.…show more content…
He had become numb from head to toe. His layers were not thick enough to keep him completely warm. “He did not expose his fingers more than a minute, and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them.” (4). Then, he started to get frost bite on the areas of skin that was still out in the cold. The frost bites appeared from the cold wind rubbing up against his skin. Also, after a while he began to get snow stuck to his beard. It was so cold that it he could not just wipe it off like normally. This also happened to his dog but the snow was stuck in his feet. The man knew that if he did not get those out the dog would not make it much
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