To Build a Fire: Themes

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

Nature Is Indifferent

The main character inhabits an unforgiving and indifferent natural landscape that does not care if he lives or dies. The setting of the Yukon is harsh and unforgiving where one mistake can lead to death. There is no room for error. The theme of nature’s indifference is reflected not just in the setting and the events that befall the main character, but also in the voice of the narrator. The omniscient narrator does not give the man a name. This frames him as insignificant in the grand scheme of things. The narrator also describes the intense cold dispassionately, making note of things the man clearly doesn’t know (the exact temperature, for instance) and maintaining a certain degree of distance from the man’s dilemma: “Blood in wet and freezing feet cannot be kept moving by running when it is 75 degrees below.” When the man dies, the event is described in the same removed style, and the perspective then switches to describe what the dog feels and does. The dog, representative of nature, also reflects indifference toward the man. The two of them have no bond, and the man is cruel to it, so the dog doesn’t care what happens to him. After the man dies, the dog still doesn’t care, opting to prioritize its own interests just as the man once did; once the dog smells death on the man, it quickly abandons the man and searches for other humans that can provide for its needs. In changing perspective, the author is draining the man’s experience of significance. It is almost as though he never existed in the first place, and life goes on indifferently without him.

Survival in Extremes

“To Build a Fire” contrasts the limited experience of the narrator with the greater experience of the old man on Sulphur Creek and the instinct of the dog, and how each affects one’s possibility of survival. The position of having limited experience combined with over-confidence is by far the weakest position and is what leads to the man’s death. The old man at Sulphur Creek is never seen by readers, but his words echo in the protagonist’s mind throughout the story. He dismisses the old man’s words at first, but later realizes that the old man “was right.” The old man has warned the protagonist how cold it is and that men should never travel alone in these temperatures. But the man ignores him. In the end, he pictures the old man “warm and comfortable” while he freezes to death, having realized too late he himself was wrong. The dog represents instinct, another means of surviving the harsh terrain of the Yukon. Unlike the man, who “did not know cold,” the dog is protected by its instincts. The narrator points out that the dog does not possess the human knowledge necessary to understand the temperature readings. However, it nonetheless “sensed the danger.” It expects the man to build a fire or find shelter and wants to dig itself into the snow. When the man leaves the fire to continue their journey, the dog understands that this is a bad idea: “It was not good to walk outside in such fearful cold.” Later, the dog’s instincts help it keep a distance from the man when he is planning to kill it. In the end, the men possesses neither the experience of the old man, a seasoned veteran of the Yukon, nor the instincts of the dog; he has only a stubborn belief in his own abilities, which ultimately spells out his doom.

The Limits of Self-Reliance

The protagonist begins the short story filled with self-confidence about his ability to survive alone on his journey. Even though he realizes that it is colder than 50 degrees below zero, the temperature remains abstract and unimportant to him. He is convinced that it cannot harm him: “What was a little frost? A bit painful, that was all. It was never serious.” Before he set off on his trek, an experienced old man had warned him that he should not travel alone. But even after he falls through the ice and his feet get wet, the man is still convinced that he will be all right on his own. He quickly builds a fire to warm himself and mocks the old man’s advice, still convinced that “[any] man who was a man could travel alone.” But once the snow puts out his fire, the man begins to realize that there are limits to his self-reliance. He must build another fire, but he is beginning to freeze. If he had a companion, he realizes, they could have built the second fire. However, it is too late. The man is unable to build a fire and dies, thinking again of the old man’s advice to travel with a companion. Only in death does the man admit it: “You were right, old fellow. You were right.” The dog has much better chances of surviving in the cold, but it also possesses an instinctual awareness that to travel in this weather is too dangerous. The dog knows that to travel with its master on such a day means it will have to “[depend] on him as a fire provider.” After the man’s death, the dog does not go off on its own, but immediately seeks other “food providers and fire providers.” The man’s pride and the dog’s instinct both indicate clearly that no one can survive alone in the extreme cold of the Yukon, and that the man’s refusal to rely on others is what gets him killed.

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