English; foreshadowing in To build a fire PDF

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foreshadowing death...

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Foreshadowing in “To Build a Fire” In the first six paragraphs of “To Build a Fire”, Jack London uses imagery, repetition, and the narrator's thoughts to foreshadow possible struggles the narrator will have to face throughout the story. It helps build suspense as you reach the climax of the story, and allows you to make educated guesses as to what the outcome may be. In the first paragraph London wrote “ a dim and little-travelled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland.”... “It was a clear day, and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things, a subtle gloom that made the day dark, and that was due to the absence of sun”. This use of imagery to describe the weather is a sign that it foreshadows something darker to come. It leads you to believe this because London used words like gloomy,dim, dull, and dark several times throughout the exposition of the story. As the narrator begins his journey it doesn't take him long to realize the intensity of the cold , and London foreshadows the narrator's trouble will only continue to increase by using repetition of the word cold. As the narrator continues his journey despite the troubles that have begun he lets the readers know about his plans for later that day. “He would be in to camp by six o'clock; a bit after dark, it was true, but the boys would be there, a fire would be going, and a hot supper would be ready.” This is another example of foreshadowing because It makes the reader question if he will make it to the camp by six or wonder if he will make it there at all. Next the narrator foreshadows another event to come by showing his only way of bringing lunch along with him on the journey, “ As for lunch, he pressed his hand against the protruding bundle under his jacket. It was also under his shirt, wrapped up in a handkerchief and lying against the naked skin. It was the only way to keep the biscuits from freezing.” This quote not only foreshadows that he will have difficulty keeping the biscuits from freezing later in the story, but foreshadows that he will need to build a fire to defrost his biscuits if they do freeze. Both of these quotes give a different warmer mood than the dark, cold, and miserable mood the story has created . Based on the problems the narrator has faced so far in the story it makes the reader feel like it would be too easy for these next two plans to work so smoothly for him, it foreshadows that many more obstacles will occur during his journey. Next London foreshadows with the worsening weather, that the narrator should

not be traveling during this cold day, and he will suffer major consequences for continuing on for so long. “He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow, but this spittle had crackled in the air.” This quote demonstrates how severe the weather is because his spit crackled before it even hit the ground . The temperature is much colder than he predicted and he can’t stop thinking about how cold it is . This foreshadows that that cold will be the factor that causes him to make a fatal mistake during his journey, a mistake that could cost him his life. Next I read “ Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the man's judgment.”... “The dog had learned fire, and it wanted fire, or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air.” His dog's instincts are stronger than his own but the man ignores the signs and continues on. For his dog to want fire and warmth foreshadows that the narrator needs to find shelter soon or build a fire as soon as possible. It foreshadows that the narrator will attempt to build a fire twice later on in the story but the fire will not be enough to help during this torturous weather. Lastly I read “It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man's frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold;” This quote is a direct foreshadowing of the man’s inevitable death at the end of the story. At this point the man is still continuing to travel unaware that he may not make it. He is very self confident during most of his journey that he will make it to his camp where the boys are waiting for him up until the beginning of the fourteenth paragraph when he begins to feel signs of severe numbness and stinging in his hands and feet. “He was a bit frightened.” ...“There was no mistake about it, it was cold. He strode up and down, stamping his feet and threshing his arms,” . This demonstrates what many of my earlier quotes predicted for the man, showing that the intense cold day would be his ultimate doom. The man did not realize this and had not become fearful until it was already too late and the weather had already worsened . In the end the man chose to accept that there was nothing he could do to escape this death . “A good idea, he thought, to sleep off to death. It was like taking an anaesthetic. Freezing was not so bad as people thought. There were lots worse ways to die.” Therefore the first six paragraphs of “To Build a Fire” by Jack London shows several examples of foreshadowing later events in the story. Jack London does a great

job using foreshadowing because if you pay attention to the signs it is easy to figure out the outcome of the story....