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A Symbolic Interpretation of To Build A Fire
A Symbolic Interpretation of To Build A Fire
Professor Willburn
English 335
23 October 2010
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
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
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Northwest Canada known for its bitterly cold winters which see little or no sun (Yukon Territory
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
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
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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
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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
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
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
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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
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
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
Works Cited
Cain, William E. American Literature. Vol. 2. New York: Penguin Academics, 2004. Print.
Edwards, David A. "The Simplicity of Symbols." New Era Feb. 2007: 10-13. Print.
<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 &
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/09/980930081949.htm>.
Phillips, Michael K., and Douglas W. Smith. Yellowstone Wolf Project: Biennial Report. Rep.
Williams, Christopher K., Göran Ericsson, and Thomas A. Heberlein. "A Quantitative Summary of
"Yukon Territory Weather and Climate." World Travels. Web. 5 Oct. 2010.
<http://www.wordtravels.com/Travelguide/Provinces/Yukon Territory/Climate/>.