Name______Date______
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London
Literary Analysis: Conflict, Setting, Irony
Conflict is the struggle between two opposing forces or characters. An internal conflict is a
struggle between conflicting thoughts and emotions within a character’s mind. You face an internal conflict, for example, when you want to spend time studying for a test, yet you also want to go to a movie with your friends. An external conflict is a struggle between a character
and an outside force, such as another character, society, nature, or fate. A pilot trying to land an airplane in strong winds is engaged in an external conflict—person against nature. In this last example, the setting—the place and time—serves as the source of the conflict. Irony is sometimes used to heighten the effect of the conflict by stressing a contradiction between what
a character thinks and what the reader knows to be true.
DIRECTIONS: Following are brief excerpts from “To Build a Fire.” Identify the conflict in each as internal or external. Then identify the opposing forces and tell whether the setting is central to the conflict. Finally, identify any irony that may heighten the effect.
1. “It was seventy-five below zero. Since the freezing point is thirty-two above zero, it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained.”
Conflict: ______
Opposing forces/Setting central?:______
Irony: ______
2. “He tried to keep this thought down, to forget it, to think of something else; he was aware of the panicky feeling that it caused, and he was afraid of the panic.”
Conflict: ______
Opposing forces/Setting central?:______
Irony: ______
3. “He spoke to the dog . . . but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal. . . . As it came within reaching distance, the man lost his control.”
Conflict: ______
Opposing forces/Setting central?:______
Irony: ______
4. “High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow. . . . It grew like an avalanche, and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out!”
Conflict: ______
Opposing forces/Setting central?:______
Irony: ______
5. “He was very careful. He drove the thought of his freezing feet, and nose, and cheeks, out of his mind, devoting his whole soul to the matches.”
Conflict: ______
Opposing forces/Setting central?:______
Irony: ______
6. “. . . it was a matter of life and death. This threw him into a panic, and he turned and ran up the creekbed along the old, dim trail.”
Conflict: ______
Opposing forces/Setting central?:______
Irony: ______
7. “Well, he was bound to freeze anyway, and he might as well take it decently.”
Conflict: ______
Opposing forces/Setting central?:______
Irony: ______
ANSWERS
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London
Literary Analysis: Conflict, Setting, Irony
1. external; person against nature; setting is central; no irony
2. internal; person against himself; setting is not central to conflict; ironic because he is trying to contain his fear but situation is serious.
3. external; person against another character; setting is not central to the conflict; ironic because the dog senses the severity of the situation as well as the man does
4. external; person against nature; setting is central; ironic because readers know the fire represented safety but this accident will lead to disaster
5. external; person against nature; setting is central; no irony
6. external; person against himself; setting is not central; ironic because running will not save him
7. external; person against fate;; setting is not central; no irony
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Grade 11, Unit 3