Literary Analysis – “To Build a Fire”

 

Jack London’s works are well known through out the world of academia. One of his most notable works is “To Build a Fire”. After researching other literary analysis I found that there was more than one version of “To Build a Fire”. This intrigues me enough to base my literary analysis on the major differences between the two stories and then take a stab at why London changed the first story will start with a brief bit of history. The first notable fact that will be discussed in greater detail is that the second story was much more brutal and harsh. The first version of the story has much less consequence for the main character. Now we have established that there is a difference between the two stories we can move on to one of the most intriguing parts of the whole saga that is “To Build a Fire”: The second version of the story was published first on May 29, 1902. Yes, you read that correctly. The second, more brutal, version was published first in the Youth’s Companion in August, 1908. The first version, which was more youth friendly, was published for the adult audience in The Century Magazine in 1908 (Stasz). So confuse you more let’s recap these facts: the first version was less brutal and better for children, but was published second in an adult magazine; the second version which was much more brutal was published first in a childrens magazine. One can only hypothesize why London would do such a thing. Was this chain of events intentional, or did was it just an odd coincidence? Personally, I think London knew exactly what he was doing and I think he liked to stir up public opinion. You can decide for yourself.  

Now that the time and order sequence has been established let’s dive into the major differences of the two works. The best way to do this is to summarize the story as one work pointing out the differences in order, as they happen. The first notable difference is the fact that the main character was given a name in the first story, but not the second. The characters name was Tom Vincent. To give a character a name in a story is a way for the reader to identify with him and get to know him better. That fact that the character does not have a name in the second story gives a cold detachment from the reader. The second story has the unnamed character set out with a half-wild dog, while in the first story Tom Vincent is alone. In both stories the first major event is the character soaking his feet and starting a fire. However, Tom lets he fire burn out before starting a new one and the unnamed character, as luck would have it, had snow fall on, and extinguish, his fire (Enotes.com). Once the fires in both stories go out the protagonist fails to light another fire immediately. In the first story Tom remembers a hunting camp close by, but is devastated to find the camp abandoned. Then Tom is able to build another fire and warm himself. Ultimately, this saves his life and he “limps” back to his camp and is humbled by the experience of nature. On the contrary, one of the most major differences between the stories is the ending. We pick up the tale of the second story after the falling snow puts out the fire and unnamed character is unable to start his new fire. The character is desperate for warmth and considers killing his half-wild dog in order to use the dog for warmth.  The unnamed character is unable to kill the dog. The man realizes his fate and runs bare foot and frozen until he falls into the snow and succumbs to his fate. The second story is much more brutal and portrays London’s naturalistic style. In both stories the protagonist struggles to build a fire to stay alive. The fire is the one constant element in both stories (Young). The common struggle is the ever present theme throughout London’s work: man vs. nature.

Citation:

Stasz, Clarice. "Jack [John Griffith] London." Jack London. Dr. Clarice Stasz, 19 AUG 2001.       Web. 24 Oct 2010. <http://london.sonoma.edu/jackbio.html

"Short Story Criticism l To Build a Fire, Jack London - Introduction." Enotes.com. Enotes.com Inc., 21 NOV 2010. Web. 21 Nov 2010. <http://www.enotes.com/short-story-criticism/build-fire-jack-london/introduction?print=1>.

Young, Charles. ""To Build a Fire" Analysis." Associated Content. Yahoo!, 03 JUN 2010. Web. 21 Nov 2010. <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5446582/to_build_a_fire_analysis.html>.