Question

Theme of how to build a fire

Answer 1

London employs irony to emphasize and further illustrate his existential topic. The man goes across the dangerous terrain of the Yukon with "keenly watchful" attention (120). Ironically, the guy "falls through the ice" at a place where there are no "treacherous signs," despite the fact that he is continuously on the lookout for clues to the hidden dangers he desires to avoid (Perry 227). After meticulously lighting a fire, the guy learns even more about the arbitrary and uncaring character of the cosmos when the fire is hilariously extinguished by snow falling just as he is ready to start defrosting his frozen feet. Even with all of his knowledge, King Hendricks finds it ironic that "[the man] is still a helpless prey to natural powers and natural forces" (22). Further pointing out the irony, Hendricks writes, "the dog, surviving just by instinct, without mittens, without earflaps, without a coat, without lunch, and without a fire, survived himself while the man could not survive in the Artic [sic] temperature of 75 degrees below zero" (22). The reader must not be misled by the dog's presence as the man's traveling companion in order to maintain the existential theme of man being alone in an indifferent universe; instead, the reader must recognize the dog for what it truly is—another manifestation of the environment's apathy and indifference. The dog cannot be viewed as a kin who shares the protagonist's lonely, miserable existence since it is not a sentient entity like man and hence cannot be considered a kindred spirit. London draws the reader's attention to the merciless indifference of nature and, in turn, the existential topic of man living alone in an unpredictable and destructive environment by adding irony to the story's key elements.

Thank you,

Eddie