To Build a Fire by Jack London is a story about man versus nature. A man, who is ill prepared for the elements, sets out to hike a trail in the Yukon Territory with out any company except a dog. The man was warned by an "old-timer" not to attempt this hike alone because "no man must travel alone in the Klondike after 50 below." The man did not heed the old-timer's advice, and set out on a treacherous journey. He fails in his attempt and loses his life. The dog that accompanies the man follows his instincts and survives. The theme of To Build a Fire may be learned by a study of its plot structure.
The exposition of the story introduces the characters, setting, and background that are important to the meaning of the story. In To Build a Fire, the setting is the Yukon Territory with 107 degree below freezing temperature. The characters include the lone hiker, and a big native husky dog. The background includes the man's inability to reason the situation. London claims that the man was, "not much into thinking." This proved to be true as the man was unprepared for the rigors of the freezing temperature. .
The rising action of the story is when the conflict is revealed. Tension and suspense are added to peak emotion. In To Build a Fire, the rising action is the man's journey on the Yukon trail. He has many near misses of falling into freezing water, and uses the dog to walk ahead of him to test the ice. When the man's fingers and toes begin to go numb, he builds a fire for warmth. His spit is frozen in his beard, and his mouth becomes too frozen to eat his lunch. He survives these first pitfalls. These problems lead to the climax of the story. He soon falls up to his knees into ice water and struggles to dry and warm himself. He makes a critical error when making a fire. He builds the fire under a tree, and the snow falls from the branches and puts out his fire. He is unable to work his frozen hands to build another fire, and considers killing the dog for the warmth of its body.