To Build A Fire Analysis

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The short story To Build A Fire, by Jack London demonstrates the tone of the story as ominous and dark through a variety of literary terms. These terms include atmosphere, dramatic irony, antagonist and characterization. By using these terms Jack London shapes his story and the characters in a way that keeps the story inciting and interesting for the reader. In the end, Jack London uses the literary terms atmosphere, irony, antagonist and characterization to portray the stories tone as ominous and dark. The first literary term that can be uses to portray an ominous and dark tone is through the atmosphere or setting. The story is based in the woods during a major cold front, where the main character is hiking alone with a dog. By having the …show more content…
Even though this is the characters first time being involved in winter and camping, this helps define the tone as dark and ominous through his attitude towards the woods but also by his insignificance. Jack London writes “ but all this-the mysterious, far-reaching hairline trail, the absence of sun from the sky, the tremendous cold, and the strangeness and weirdness of it all made no impression on the man. It was not because he was long used to it. He was a newcomer in the land, a chechaquo, and this was his first winter”(125). The character is young and has an ego that makes him feel like he can beat the woods even though he has never camped let alone experience winter before. This helps establish the tone as ominous and dark because the narrator and reader already know the truth of the situation. Another indicator of the tone being ominous and dark is through the insignificance of the character. The main reason why he is insignificant is because he is never given a name. As a reader, you are able to infer that the character is not going to last very long in the story. As well as this proving the ominous tone, it also proves it as a dark tone because the character dies in the end, and for the reader and narrator we know that this is going to happen from the
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