"To Build a Fire" was written by Jack London and was originally published in 1902. It is told in a third person limited point of view. The story is set in the Yukon Territory during the winter.

The man that the story follows starts off very cocky and as the story goes on becomes more and more desperate to survive. For example, when remembering the advice of an old-timer of not to travel alone in below 50 degree temperature, the man thinks, "Well, here he was; he had had the accident; he was alone; and he had saved himself. Those old-timers were rather womanish... Any man who was a man could travel alone." This shows hot the man's smugness in conquering his battle against freezing allows him to presume all is well. His overconfidence blinds him to the fact that he is still new to this land and uneducated about...