867). Thus, this example proves to us that it is difficult to escape from the dangers of nature. Another good example of that "battle" between the man and nature, and I have to admit that it is my favourite one, is when the man has to build a fire in order to save himself. Because of the effects of the cold, which is part of nature, his hands become numb, making the task to start a fire even harder. Therefore, after several minutes, he ended by achieving this task. Unfortunately, a huge amount of snow immediately felt on the fire, returning the man to his starting point. To my mind, this appears to be a way for nature to make sure that the man remembers that it is difficult to conquer her. Those two examples take place at specific points of the story. However, I find it important to mention that the whole story itself could be another fine example of a confrontation between the man and nature. The following is the progression of the "fight" between the man and nature: at the beginning, he only felt the cold on his face and he thought that he was going to attain his destination by six o"clock. However, as the story progresses, natural obstacles such as the cold and the springs slow him down and make his objective harder to achieve. And finally, at the end, he succumbs to mother nature by dying frozen in the snow. Once again, nature wins over the man. London also mentions directly that man is only able to survive within certain narrow limits of temperature (864). In other words, he focuses on the fact that man is vulnerable to nature.
The other point that London seems to put emphasis on in his text "To Build a Fire " is the instincts of the man's dog. On many occasions during the story, the dog makes use of his instincts, and the author really focuses on this. For example, there is the time when the dog detects that it is much colder than fifty below zero. He does not have any notions of temperature, but he knows it anyway.
