LITERARY ANALYSIS

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Literary Analysis
Making decisions is a part of life. Good decisions bring good effects to the decision-maker while poor decisions negatively affect the life of the decision-maker. The short story, ‘To Build A Fire’ by Jack London, efficaciously shows how poor decisions harm the decision-maker. The story is about a young man who has the determination to travel across extremely cold weather just to meet with his friends. However, in trying to fulfill his desire, the young man portrays the importance of respecting nature as it controls everything. The idea of naturalism comes into play because the young man’s actions and decisions are controlled by nature, which later leads to his death. The whole story hinges upon the poor decisions that the young man makes, which include not asking someone to accompany him on his journey, making a fire in the wrong place, and failing to build a good relationship with the dog when he should have done so.
One of the poor decisions that the young man made was embarking on the journey alone. When embarking on a dangerous journey, one should ask for company. “The old−timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below” (London 5). However, the inexperienced young man ignored this piece of advice. He dies before reaching his destination. Had the young man listened to the advice and asked for company, he would not have died as miserably as he did, since the other person would have advised him on what to do.

His death was because of his poor decision of going alone.
In extremely cold weather, making a fire can go a long way in helping someone to keep warm. The young man thought of this, but he chose a poor position for the same. He made the fire under the tree from which he had collected the twigs. “Now the tree under which he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs” (London 6). After some time, the fire and the fact that he had agitated the tree while pulling the twigs made the boughs to release an avalanche of snow that blotted out the fire. It would have been wiser if the man had built that fire in the open, as opposed to building it under the tree. The fact that there was no fire to keep him warm led to his death because the body could not bear with the cold anymore. His poor decision led to his death.
Dogs are rational creatures and can lead someone to a particular place if someone allows them to. However, the young man did not build a good relationship with the dog that had accompanied him, and he even contemplated killing it. “He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them” (London 7). If the man had treated the dog well, it would have led him to the camp where he could find people that provided food and fire. His failure to build a good relationship with the dog led to his death. After he died, the loyal dog made sure that he was no more before going to the camp, and it arrived safely.
As shown, the short story warns young people about the importance of respecting the old. It also warns against making uninformed and rushed decisions. The young man in the story died because he ignored the old man’s advice and made poor decisions by not asking for a company while embarking on a dangerous journey, choosing a bad position to build a fire, and treating the dog as his enemy. These poor decisions led to his death.
Works Cited
London, Jack. To build a fire. Bantam Classics, 2007.