Lauren Haddow

Professor Willburn

English 335

23 October 2010

A Symbolical Examination of “To Build a Fire”

Symbols are everywhere. Look at your left hand. Are you wearing a wedding ring? What

does this symbolize to you? Commitment, love, or eternity? Maybe you aren’t wearing a

wedding ring. This could symbolize your political views (maybe you’re a feminist who refuses to

wear a ring in order to preserve your self-respect), your social habits (maybe you can’t keep a

boyfriend long enough to get a ring), or your age (sometimes interchangeable with maturity

level). Now think about your license plate. What state is it from? It could symbolize anything

from your driving habits to your education level to your preference for certain foods. So what’s

the point? The point is our lives are built around symbols. This inevitably means that literature

will also be full of symbols. These symbols can teach us much more than just words can. Let’s

examine how symbols in Jack London’s To Build a Fire help us to gain a better knowledge of

what point the author is trying to make.

The obvious symbol to start with here is the weather. London describes the setting for

us in the first paragraph as “cold and gray”, “no sun or hint of sun”, and with a “subtle gloom

that made the day dark” (Cain 280). London places his character in the Yukon, a region in
 Haddow 2

Northwest Canada known for its bitterly cold winters which see little or no sun (Yukon Territory

Weather and Climate).

Let’s look at the use of the word “cold” first. By simply going off the dictionary

definition, which is “the absence of heat” (Cold), we can understand the setting, but that’s it.

We can think about what cold means to us personally; you could say “Well, I was cold in Idaho,

this setting is kind of like that.” Unfortunately, this still won’t give us a full picture. If we think

about things that cold can symbolize (isolation, bitterness, and death), then we can start to get

a feel for the direction that this story is taking. London pairs the words “cold” and “gray” to add

to the effect. “Cold and gray” here are used as symbols of death. It would not be surprising to

hear the same words used to describe a corpse.

The next thing London does is remove the sun from his setting. The sun can symbolize

many things. In his book A Dictionary of Literary Symbols, Michael Ferber describes the sun as

“the root of all symbolism” (209). For the ancient Greeks, seeing the sun was essential to being

alive. Homer wrote in the Iliad that when a person would die they would “leave the light of the

sun” (Ferber 209). In the ancient Incan culture, sun worship was at the center of their lives. An

island in the middle of Lake Titicaca in modern-day Peru and Bolivia was a center for Incan

pilgrims. It was aptly named the Island of the Sun, and on it is a sacred rock which Incans

believed was the birthplace of the sun. Nobles and common people would come to worship

year-round at this site (New Archaeological Evidence Illuminates Incan Sun-Worship Ritual).

The sun has been a constant symbol throughout history of: light, life, enlightenment,

and warmth. Taking the sun away will symbolize just the opposite. London, however, does not
 Haddow 3

completely remove light from the setting. The character is placed in that time in-between day

and night, or twilight, which is the end of a day. In fact, humans have historically referred to as

ephemeral beings (meaning: lasting but a day; from the Greek epi “on” and hemera “day”). So

in the “day” of a human life, twilight would definitely symbolize the end.

The next big symbol in To Build a Fire is the dog. Throughout history dogs have

symbolized different things to different cultures. In ancient Hebrew, Greek, and Latin literature,

words for “dog” were often abusive terms. Dogs are placed in miserable roles in sayings like

“going to the dogs”, “die like a dog”, and “leading a dog’s life” (Ferber 59). However, dogs have

also come to be cherished for their loyalty. The generic dog’s name, “Fido” is actually Italian for

“faithful.” Carl Jung, who is a scientist well known for his ‘archetypes’, or prototypes, described

the dog as having unquestioning loyalty. The dog is portrayed this way in many popular movies

such as Lassie.

In this story the dog breaks the “faithful” mold. Throughout the story we get into the

dogs mind a bit. We come to learn that the dog despises his owner. London tells us that there is

“no keen intimacy between the dog and the man. The one was a toil-slave of the other, and the

only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whip-lash” (Cain 286). The dog does

not have warm feelings toward the man as ordinary dogs do. In fact, the dog is not ordinary, he

is half-wolf. Wolves in general are a feared and misunderstood creature. One example of this is

the decline, disappearance and eventual reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National

Park in Wyoming. When Yellowstone was created in 1872, wolf populations were already in

decline. The last wolf was killed in Yellowstone in 1926. Wolves were killed because they were
 Haddow 4

generally seen as an undesirable predator (Haines 80). A study done of surveys conducted from

1972-2000 reported that those who had the most positive attitudes had the least experience

with wolves (Williams). So with that, those with the most experience would have the most

negative view of the wolf. The disappearance of the wolf has led to greater elk populations,

which has left the Yellowstone ecosystem unbalanced. Because of this, initiatives to restore the

wolf to Yellowstone began in 1944 and resulted in the reintroduction of 14 wolves to

Yellowstone in 1995 (Phillips). This has caused a debate between various environmental groups,

farmers, and politicians. We can see that today the wolf is still misunderstood, although public

opinion is expected to change with greater education (Williams).Through these events and

thousands of years of interaction with the wolf, it has become a symbol of fear and isolation

(Ferber 241).

The wolf is a considered a wild and free animal and here the wolf-dog stays true to his

nature. He is indifferent to, maybe even happy about, the death of his owner. His main concern

is get to the camp where he knew the “other food-providers and fire-providers” were (Cain

294). Perhaps by using the symbol of the wolf-dog, London is attempting to emphasize the

connection between man and beast, and the fact that the wolf is never truly tame, but stays

true to his instinct.

The next symbol is the fire. Fire is very closely related to the sun because they both offer

the same benefits, light and warmth. The difference in this story is that the man has no control

over whether the sun is visible or not. He does however, have it within his power to build a fire.

London explains the importance of building a fire through the character’s thoughts: “He would
 Haddow 5

have to build a fire and dry out his footgear. This was imperative at that low temperature – he

knew that much” (Cain 286). We get a better idea about the importance of the fire by the

character’s reactions to the presence of fire, and then again to the absence of it. When the man

has his fire burning, he is content and at ease. He knows that the fire promises “life with every

flickering flame” (Cain 288). After building it, a tree branch weighted down with snow falls and

effectively snuffed out the fire. At this, the man is “shocked. It was as though he had just heard

his own death sentence” (Cain 288). The man knew that the fire was his source of light and

warmth, and in the Yukon, it was also his source of life.

Fire has been used as a symbol in many Native American legends. One Mohawk legend

describes how fire was first brought to their nation. A boy named Tree Arrows was isolated in

search of his guiding spirit when the gods showed him the ‘magic’ of fire. Through this boy the

nation was taught this ‘magic’ and prospered (How Fire Came to the Six Nations). In this story

you could say that fire is a symbol for life and survival. You can easily compare this legend to To

Build a Fire since they both stress the necessity of fire for human survival.

The last symbol is the camp. The main thing the camp symbolizes is safety. We can

compare the camp to a lighthouse. In maritime regions, the light house is a symbol for sailors of

safe harbor and dry land. We can compare the man traveling through the Yukon to a sailor on

the sea. He knows the lighthouse is there, but to get to safety he must navigate through

shallow waters and reefs, so to speak. From the beginning of the story, you get an idea that the

man might never make it to this camp. However, London still uses the camp as a symbol of

hope and survival.

 Haddow 6

We can see now how symbols have developed throughout different cultures and

peoples. We can see how those symbols convey deeper meanings and better understanding for

the reader. David A. Edwards, an editor for Church Magazines of the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints said this: “One of the greatest virtues of symbols is that they stimulate our

minds and help us learn. And they are especially valuable when they make us think more clearly

and deeply about things that truly matter” (New Era 10). We have to ask ourselves why symbols

are important in our own lives. When we educate ourselves this way we can understand more

clearly the important aspects of our lives.

 Haddow 7

Works Cited

Cain, William E. American Literature. Vol. 2. New York: Penguin Academics, 2004. Print.

"Cold." Dictionary.com. Web. 7 Oct. 2010. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cold>.

Edwards, David A. "The Simplicity of Symbols." New Era Feb. 2007: 10-13. Print.

"Ephemeral." Dictionary.com. Web. 7 Oct. 2010.

<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ephemeral>.

Ferber, Michael. A Dictionary of Literary Symbols. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print.

Haines, Aubrey L. The Yellowstone Story: A History of Our First National Park. Yellowstone

National Park, WY: Yellowstone Association for Natural Science, History & Education,

1996. Print.

"How Fire Came To The Six Nations." Native American Legends. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.

<http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/HowFireCameToTheSixNations-

Mohawk.html>.

"New Archaeological Evidence Illuminates Inca Sun-Worship Ritual." Science Daily: News &

Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Web. 8 Oct. 2010.

<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/09/980930081949.htm>.

Phillips, Michael K., and Douglas W. Smith. Yellowstone Wolf Project: Biennial Report. Rep.

Yellowstone National Park, WY: National Park Services, 1997. Print.

 Haddow 8

Williams, Christopher K., Göran Ericsson, and Thomas A. Heberlein. "A Quantitative Summary of

Attitudes toward Wolves and Their Reintroduction (1972-2000)." Wildlife Society

Bulletin 30.2: 575-84. Print.

"Yukon Territory Weather and Climate." World Travels. Web. 5 Oct. 2010.

<http://www.wordtravels.com/Travelguide/Provinces/Yukon Territory/Climate/>.