On a bitterly cold morning in the Yukon, a man embarks on a journey accompanied by his faithful companion, a husky wolf-dog.
Despite being aware of the cold, the man disregards it. As the temperature drops further, he becomes aware that his exposed cheekbones might freeze, but he doesn’t give it much thought. While crossing a creek, he falls through the snow and drenches his shins. Recalling advice from an old timer, the man understands the importance of building a fire.
As the man begins to start a fire to dry his foot-gear, he pays no attention to his numb fingers and feet, as he has the comfort of a fire. However, while he is removing his moccasins, snow falls from the tree above his fire, extinguishing it. The man becomes frightened as he is still numb and now without a source of warmth.
The man, in a hurry, attempts to construct a fresh fire but is unsuccessful due to his frozen and numb hands. Consequently, he resolves to sacrifice his dog in order to utilize its warm body as a source of warmth for his hands. Sadly, his frozen hands prevent him from accessing his knife to carry out the act, so he ultimately releases the dog.
The man eventually becomes aware of his impending death and becomes panicked. He frantically runs along the trail until he can no longer run and collapses from exhaustion. Upon realizing his fate, he determines to face death with more dignity. Eventually, the man peacefully falls asleep.
The dog, who has remained loyal despite the man’s attempt to kill it, is confused about why the man is sitting in the snow without making a fire. As night falls, the dog approaches the man and senses death in his scent. It then runs towards the camp where the rest of the food and fire providers are located. The story is written in third person with a specific purpose.
The story’s character is made impersonal and anonymous, emphasizing the importance of the man’s environment. The author employs a narrative-heavy approach rather than focusing on character development, offering only occasional glimpses into the man’s thoughts.
Characters: The Man: Throughout the entire story, the man remains unnamed intentionally. This absence of a name directs attention to the environment and setting, enabling a clearer depiction of the impact it has on the man as he remains anonymous.
The author maintains a neutral stance towards the man in the story, emphasizing his representation of humanity as a whole against nature. Consequently, the reader’s perception of the man and any moral judgments about him are almost nonexistent. In terms of symbolism, the dog represents pure instinct and highlights how man relies on modern civilization’s products, such as warm clothing, matches, maps, thermometers, and other tools to protect himself. However, the man’s dependence on these products disregards his own instinct. This symbolizes the lack of instinctual behavior on the part of the man, despite his intelligence. Ultimately, the author conveys how the man’s intelligence is used unwisely.
The snow extinguishes the fire, forcing the man to rebuild it. The author emphasizes the importance of the fire by stating, “He cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly. It was life.” This highlights how the fire determines the man’s survival and underscores his helplessness against nature’s power. One page later, a simile is employed to describe the man’s unsuccessful efforts in creating a fire.
The author compares the man’s hands to weights, describing them as hanging heavily at the end of his arms. This comparison highlights the uselessness of his hands caused by their numbness and frozen state. After falling into the water, the man expresses anger and curses his luck out loud. By using the term “luck,” the author implies that the circumstances were outside of the man’s control. Furthermore, the author refers to this incident as an accident.
The text suggests that both destiny and the man appeared incapable of preventing it. Later, when the snow descended from the tree and put out the fire, the writer contrasts with “his own fault or, rather, his mistake.” The term “fault” implies volition and the man’s decision, along with its outcomes. On the contrary, the word “mistake,” similar to “accident,” signifies that it was outside his command. Through these two instances, the author’s choice of words portrays nature and surroundings as dominant forces, while the man is subject to nature’s will.
The text repeatedly mentions the image of “fifty degrees below zero” as a danger zone. This image is mentioned multiple times throughout the piece. In the first paragraph, the sun is portrayed as a “cheerful orb, due south”, personifying it. This emphasizes the significance of nature and the environment in the story. By providing more detailed descriptions and giving them more vitality than the anonymous man, it underscores their importance. The author also personifies the tree from which snow fell when mentioning that each time the man pulled on a twig, it caused a slight disturbance in the tree – an imperceptible disturbance to him but enough to lead to disaster.
The central theme of the narrative revolves around the environment and nature, rather than the man. Nonetheless, a pivotal moment occurs when snow from a tree falls and puts out the fire, leading to an epiphany for the man. The author vividly portrays this moment as both startling and akin to receiving one’s own death sentence. It is in this precise instant that the man comprehends his mortality.
The purpose of this text is to illustrate how the man’s actions and thoughts are influenced by his surroundings. The author highlights the trail’s characteristics and distances to different destinations along it. However, despite all these factors – the enigmatic and expansive trail, the lack of sunlight, the extreme cold, and the overall strangeness – none of it affected the man. This indifference displayed by both the man and the author emphasizes the significance of the environment in the story, accentuating the power it holds over the man.
In the following paragraph, the subsequent rhetorical transition reinforces the impact of the previous transition. This occurs as the author depicts the freezing of the man’s spit in midair, noting that it is “undeniably colder than fifty below.” However, the actual temperature is irrelevant. Employing a literary style that emphasizes narrative development over character portrayal, the author effectively conveys their message to the reader. By minimizing character development, the author facilitates a clearer comparison between mankind as a collective entity.
The author of the text employs personification and environmental descriptions to convey how human actions are influenced by their surroundings. This highlights the belief that humans lack free will and their destiny is predetermined by nature. By using terms such as “luck” and “accident,” alongside contrasting “fault” with “mistake,” the author effectively presents the gray area in determining responsibility for the man’s actions. Despite his ability to anticipate the consequences and be accountable, he failed to do so, resulting in his exemption from liability. In general, the author’s literary style effectively unifies all elements of the piece, contributing to its coherence and success.
