To Build A Fire

“When it is 75 below zero, a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire” -Jack London

Brainstorming is a bit like building a fire. What is one of your favorite techniques?

I want to get a new creative fire going. I’ll share with you a spark I had recently. But first, a summary of the titular short story by Jack London. Spoilers ahead. Lego Fortnite players take note.

To Build A Fire is a survival short by Jack London that depicts “the man”, let’s call him Yukon Cornelius, trekking alone with his dog circa 1900 to meet some buddies at a rendezvous point. And it’s cold. I mean naked snow angel cold. Yukon can’t feel his face like The Weeknd. SPOILER ALERT! Yukon dies trying to, you guessed it, build a fire.

It’s not a huge loss; Yukon was a total jerk. At one point he forces cute puppers out onto thin ice which promptly breaks. And later he tries to knife the dog😱 for warmth! The dog instinctively avoids the man by this point, watches his heartless master freeze facedown in the snow and then goes in search of a new master. THE END.

And I think I’ll save that spark for another post. (Suspense technique deployed!)

E.F.☃️

15 thoughts on “To Build A Fire”

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  2. I read this story for one of many college literature courses I took over the years, London really painted the harshness of man vs. nature into a very vivid and poignant picture. No sentimentally or Romanticism here, just told like it is.

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  3. This brought back memories of countless times I had to build a fire while camping with scouts between ages 8 and 20. Luckily it was never during winter, but the rainy days really test your skills. Some years ago I watched a survivor reality show Alone, where contestants (isolated from one another) need to survive as long as possible with limited gear on Vancouver Island at the start of the winter season. This means it was raining and then snowing almost every single day. Truly a grueling experience!

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    1. Ah Scouts is a great training background I wish I had. I have watched some episodes of Alone and really enjoy it. Seeing the different strategies for shelter building for example. Show seems much more authentic than the more mainstream, “Survivor”

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      1. Oh yeah, “Alone” is proper survival.
        I was 8 when they sent us to the forest during scout camping from breakfast until dinner with a knife, a saw, half a loaf of bread, two sausages, and a canteen of water. Each group consisted of 4-8 kids around the same age. We had to build a shelter and a fire, with resources around us. Of course, we did select the place in advance for each group, we practiced fire and shelter making and had lessons about local plant life, but on that day we were left alone. The group leader came to check on us a couple of times. We did that every year and was the most fun I had in the forest.

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  5. great review EF! 🙂

    i remember when I was younger and was learning how to build a campfire. it is A LOT harder than most people make it sound. so hard that I remember thinking the people wayyyyyy back probably looked at the new technology of wood burning stoves with the same sense of wonder and awe that we look at ChatGPT

    – Archer

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  6. Ah, yes. I love to see karma in action!
    As for the spark… handle with care. Don’t let it die out, don’t blow too hard. Good luck!

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  7. Interesting post. It raises the larger question of “What is reality?” I think reality is not the simulation people talk about, but a channeling of parallel universe toward a point of convergence.

    Come visit my website AND LEAVE PLENTY OF COMMENTS!:

    http://www.catxman.wordpress.com

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