What is and what should be our attitude toward the natural world, especially if nature is indifferent to human beings and often hostile to our purposes? Who in the story is a better model, the man or the dog?

ack London specialized in stories about the wilderness. His running theme involved the raw majesty and power of the elements. Naturalism was London's mantra and this story is a perfect example of this. In "To Build a Fire" the setting is in the Yukon. Unlike the man, the dog has naturalism built into his DNA. The dog and nature are in sync. The dog has been conditioned by generations of evolution and he instinctively understands what to do and when to do it. The dog also has the genetics (has fur) to survive better than man. We should be in awe of nature and respect what nature can do if we do not heed her warnings.