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To Build a Fire

104 statements
19 feature instances
7 referencing feature instances

To Build a Fire	type	TVTItem
To Build a Fire	label	To Build a Fire
To Build a Fire	page	ToBuildAFire
To Build a Fire	comment	"To Build a Fire" is a classic Canadian Western short story by Jack London, originally published in 1908 in The Century Magazine.It involves an unnamed man up in the Yukon Territory of Canada during a savagely cold winter, who is working a gold claim. He leaves the Yukon Trail, accompanied only by his dog, and heads toward camp where he will meet his fellow prospectors ("the boys"). The man has an unfortunate accident when he falls through a patch of thin ice covering a creek and soaks his feet and lower legs. His situation quickly deteriorates as he struggles to get a fire going so he can warm himself up and stay alive."To Build a Fire" is one of Jack London's most famous and best remembered works, and is often found in school literature textbooks. Read it here.
To Build a Fire	fetched	2024-02-05T14:00:25Z
To Build a Fire	parsed	2024-02-05T14:00:25Z
To Build a Fire	processingComment	Dropped link to AnAesop: Not a Feature - IGNORE
To Build a Fire	isPartOf	DBTropes
To Build a Fire / int_18d15922	type	Title Drop
To Build a Fire / int_18d15922	comment	Title Drop: Variations on the phrase "to build a fire" are repeated eight times.
To Build a Fire / int_18d15922	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_18d15922	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_18d15922
To Build a Fire / int_1ba17583	type	The Ghost
To Build a Fire / int_1ba17583	comment	The Ghost: There are constant references that the man makes in his mind to an elderly native in Sulphur Creek who supplied him information and even warns him that it would be dangerous to go out all alone, but the man laughed at him. He pays dearly for ignoring his advice, and he internally acknowledges this.
To Build a Fire / int_1ba17583	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_1ba17583	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_1ba17583
To Build a Fire / int_21e5b9c7	type	Failed a Spot Check
To Build a Fire / int_21e5b9c7	comment	Failed a Spot Check: Averted. The man is quite careful to check for springs that never freeze and thus are dangerous to step in when it's so cold. The one he does step in is at "a place where there were no signs", where the snow looked smooth and safe.
To Build a Fire / int_21e5b9c7	featureApplicability	-1.0
To Build a Fire / int_21e5b9c7	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_21e5b9c7
To Build a Fire / int_272abb98	type	Shoot the Shaggy Dog
To Build a Fire / int_272abb98	comment	Shoot the Shaggy Dog: A man travels in the Yukon during incredibly cold weather with only a lone dog as his only company, tries to build a fire, accidentally gets it extinguished, fails to build another one, and pointlessly dies freezing to death in the middle of nowhere. Ironically, the literal dog in the story survives.
To Build a Fire / int_272abb98	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_272abb98	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_272abb98
To Build a Fire / int_2737c505	type	Shoot the Dog
To Build a Fire / int_2737c505	comment	Shoot the Dog: When the man's hands become too cold to light another fire, he attempts to kill the dog so he can warm them enough in its innards and give his fingers the mobility needed to make another one. Unfortunately for him, his hands are also too cold to actually do any real harm to the dog.
To Build a Fire / int_2737c505	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_2737c505	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_2737c505
To Build a Fire / int_396e1c2a	type	Face Death with Dignity
To Build a Fire / int_396e1c2a	comment	Face Death with Dignity: Discussed Trope, when the man finally realizes that he is screwed, because his hands are too frozen to build a fire and the camp is too far away for him to walk to on his frozen legs.
To Build a Fire / int_396e1c2a	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_396e1c2a	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_396e1c2a
To Build a Fire / int_46a4f490	type	Carcass Sleeping Bag
To Build a Fire / int_46a4f490	comment	Carcass Sleeping Bag: The man attempts to kill his sled dog with the intention of warming his hands in the entrails. It doesn't work because by then his hands are too frozen to either strangle the dog or draw his knife.
To Build a Fire / int_46a4f490	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_46a4f490	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_46a4f490
To Build a Fire / int_4f6bd2da	type	Nature Is Not Nice
To Build a Fire / int_4f6bd2da	comment	Nature Is Not Nice: The story's conflict is man vs. nature. The protagonist underestimates the danger of hiking alone in the Yukon wilderness in extreme cold: he falls into a creek, fails to build a fire, and freezes to his death.
To Build a Fire / int_4f6bd2da	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_4f6bd2da	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_4f6bd2da
To Build a Fire / int_52c272d0	type	Frozen Body Fluids
To Build a Fire / int_52c272d0	comment	Frozen Body Fluids: It is -75 degrees Fahrenheit; when the man spits, the spit freezes mid-air with "a sharp, explosive crackle." There's so much ice built up around his nose and mouth that he can't spit his tobacco juice far enough to clear his chin before it freezes.
To Build a Fire / int_52c272d0	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_52c272d0	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_52c272d0
To Build a Fire / int_55180ce	type	Snow Means Death
To Build a Fire / int_55180ce	comment	Snow Means Death: London vividly describes the snow that smoothly extends as far as the man can see. There's also a more acute variant in play with the scene where the man's first fire is smothered by snow falling out of the tree he built the fire under.
To Build a Fire / int_55180ce	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_55180ce	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_55180ce
To Build a Fire / int_643618e5	type	Replacement Goldfish
To Build a Fire / int_643618e5	comment	Replacement Goldfish: Upon realizing the man is dead, the dog has no affection for him and immediately leaves to find other humans and heat.
To Build a Fire / int_643618e5	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_643618e5	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_643618e5
To Build a Fire / int_6b27162d	type	The Remake
To Build a Fire / int_6b27162d	comment	The Remake: The famous 1908 story was actually the second Jack London story by this name. The first version, published in 1902, does not include the dog, and the man succeeds in building a fire and survives.
To Build a Fire / int_6b27162d	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_6b27162d	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_6b27162d
To Build a Fire / int_b58b4e3c	type	Too Dumb to Live
To Build a Fire / int_b58b4e3c	comment	Too Dumb to Live: The man was told by a veteran prospector that no one should travel alone when it's colder than -50 F, that it's too dangerous. The man, a newcomer to the Yukon, sets out alone anyway. Even the dog knows that hiking cross-country in such weather is a bad idea. ("It knew that it was no time for travelling.") And then he makes one critical mistake which he doesn't think about until it's too late—he builds his fire under a tree rather than out in the open. note His logic was that then he could just pull branches from the tree to add to the fire, not accounting for the possibility of the tree dumping snow on the fire and extinguishing it, which it does.
To Build a Fire / int_b58b4e3c	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_b58b4e3c	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_b58b4e3c
To Build a Fire / int_b90e8dc1	type	Hard-to-Light Fire
To Build a Fire / int_b90e8dc1	comment	Hard-to-Light Fire: Half of the story is focused on trying to build a fire when the temperature is -75 F and your hands are numb and stiff. It turns out to be too hard.
To Build a Fire / int_b90e8dc1	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_b90e8dc1	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_b90e8dc1
To Build a Fire / int_ca87e3ec	type	No Name Given
To Build a Fire / int_ca87e3ec	comment	No Name Given: The characters are referred to only as the man and the dog. In the original 1902 version, the man was named Tom Vincent.
To Build a Fire / int_ca87e3ec	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_ca87e3ec	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_ca87e3ec
To Build a Fire / int_cb3adcb7	type	Kill It with Ice
To Build a Fire / int_cb3adcb7	comment	Kill It with Ice: The man freezes to death.
To Build a Fire / int_cb3adcb7	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_cb3adcb7	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_cb3adcb7
To Build a Fire / int_d2102da0	type	Bad People Abuse Animals
To Build a Fire / int_d2102da0	comment	Bad People Abuse Animals: Downplayed. The fact that "there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man" because "the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whip-lash and of harsh and menacing throat-sounds that threatened the whip-lash" doesn't win the man any sympathy points.
To Build a Fire / int_d2102da0	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_d2102da0	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_d2102da0
To Build a Fire / int_ff6ae1f6	type	Evil-Detecting Dog
To Build a Fire / int_ff6ae1f6	comment	Evil-Detecting Dog: Right from the start, the dog's instincts tell it that traveling in such frigid weather is a terrible idea, and the man is noted to have no such instincts. As there was no close bond between the man and the dog, the dog doesn't warn him in any way, and he ends up freezing to death. Later, the man has an idea to kill the dog and stick his hands in its guts to warm his fingers enough so he can try to build another fire . The dog hears the note of fear in the man's voice and shies away from him. The man finally succeeds in calling the dog to him, but his hands are too frozen to either grip his knife or strangle the dog.
To Build a Fire / int_ff6ae1f6	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_ff6ae1f6	featureConfidence	1.0
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To Build a Fire / int_name	type	ItemName
To Build a Fire / int_name	comment
To Build a Fire / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
To Build a Fire / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	To Build a Fire / int_name
To Build a Fire / int_name	itemName	To Build a Fire

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

To Build a Fire	hasFeature	American Literature (T to Z) / int_d09ee7d1
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	Carcass Sleeping Bag / int_d09ee7d1
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	Emergency Food Supply Animal / int_d09ee7d1
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	Frozen Body Fluids / int_d09ee7d1
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	Nature Is Not Nice / int_d09ee7d1
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	Short Story / int_d09ee7d1
To Build a Fire	hasFeature	Snow Means Death / int_d09ee7d1

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