Naturalist writers base their stories on the fact that free will amounts to nothing, human beings are no more important than animals, and nature can be hostile and indifferent. Jack London's story, "To Build a Fire" focused specifically on nature as a hostile force. Though the man in the story made some unintelligent choices, nature did not help him during his travel. The man soon found out that nature was not his friend.
             "To Build a Fire" is a tale about a man who went hiking to meet his boys at a camp. The weather was treacherous, at fifty degrees below zero, three feet of ice, and snow on top of the ice. Furthermore, the sun never fully rose, and there were springs of water hidden under the blanket of snow. During his hike, he came across a dog that served as his companion for the trip. The dog stayed by his side through everything; however, the dog did not have a special relationship to the man. He just wanted to stay warm and the man filled the dog's need of warmth through building fires. Though the man did everything he could to try to survive, his efforts were not good enough. Eventually, nature took the man's life.
             Many choices the man made could have changed the outcome of his situation. For example, the man refused to take the advice he was given about traveling. The old timer from Sulphur Creek warned him how cold it sometimes got in the country; however, the traveler, "laughed at him at the time" (821). He also made the choice to travel alone, which he had been warned not to do. He responded to the warning, "any man who was a man could travel alone" (822-823). "He was a newcomer to the land, a chechaquo, and this was his first winter" (817). So, he was ignorant of his surroundings and he was not aware of all the dangers that came with traveling the Yukon trail. Another choice the man made that could have resulted in his death, was th...