Survival of the Fittest

Jack London's Tundra Survival Guide

Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” isn't a fictional story; it's a tundra survival guide. While the tale's labeled as a  fictional story, it's based on survival facts while exploring a man and his dog’s journey through an extremely frigid environment. The story’s layout, from portraying the extreme temperature, to the dogs bare fur coat, to the dogs instant frostbite after getting wet, exemplifies steps explored in a survival article for animals. WHNT’s article,  “Pet safety during cold weather: Animals can suffer frostbite and hypothermia despite fur coats,” by Beth Jett, does the same. “To Build a Fire” depicts faction because it displays factual steps of survival for animals through fictional experience.

The news article, “Pet safety during cold weather: Animals can suffer frostbite and hypothermia despite fur coats,” outlines tips for animal survival skills in frigid temperatures, and the short story outlines steps in a narrative form. The first tip of the article is to bring in all outdoor animals once the temperature drops below twenty degrees fahrenheit. The article explains that although some animals are born to be able to survive fully outside, veterinary experts explain once temperatures reach this extreme they should be brought inside. However, the man in “To build a fire” does just the opposite: “In reality, it was not merely colder than fifty below zero; it was colder than sixty below, than seventy below. It was seventy-five below zero,” (London 168). Accordingly, based on the fact and proved by the story’s descriptions, it was extremely dangerous for the two to be traveling outside. The use of faction portrays the propor survival necessities for the dog, and how he was not provided with those.    

The next tip from the article is to consider putting a coat or sweater with a high collar on the pet because in extreme weather their bare coat may not be enough. The fictional story portrays this as fact: “The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost, and especially were its jowls, muzzle, and eyelashes whitened by its crystalled breath” (London 168). The dog suffers from the harsh ice settling on its coat--which by itself is not a protective layer. The short story depicts that dog would greatly benefit from another layer to block off the ice, but again, faction proves that the dog lacks proper survival protection.

The last tip from the article is that pets can get frostbite too regardless of fur coats. The fictional story, “To Build a Fire” backs up the factual example: “It had wet its forefeet and legs, and almost immediately the water that clung to it turned to ice. It made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs, then dropped down in the snow and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes. This was a matter of instinct. To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet,” (London 170). Accordingly, the fact is proven by fiction: the frostbite immediately begins to form on the dogs legs once they get wet. Again the short story usees facts to portray that the dog lacked proper protection.

Accordingly, “To Build a Fire” is a fictional story based on facts. As portrayed by the survival article, the man and the dog should not have been traveling outside. The story’s layout- the extreme temperature, to the dogs bare fur coat, to the dogs instant frostbite after getting wet-exemplifies steps explored in a survival article for animals. From the facts, readers are led to the conclusions that in this environment, one may not survive, and that is proved from the fictional story.