To Build a Fire/Annotated Bibliography

• Bowen, James (Winter 1971). "Jack London's "To Build a Fire": Epistemology and the White Wilderness". Western American Literature. 5 (4): 287-289. The dog's survival in "To Build a Fire," symbolically reflects London's idea that man should, sometimes, rely on his intuition truths rather than his intellectual cognitive processes. He appears to suggest that animals live by instinct, individuals with low mental capacity fail, and human beings who use good judgment, balanced by emotional insights, overcome a harsh environment. He had a problem in that he lacked imagination. In the simple things in life, he was quick and vigilant, but only in these things, not in the significances. Rather than representing the victory of instinct over reason, London offers a third choice as a new perspective on human existence. In this case, it would be the old timer from Sulphur Creek.