A Lack of Respect“To Build a Fire” by Jack London is a short story about a man traveling along the Yukon River in harsh winter weather. Despite being warned against traveling alone in the freezing cold, he ventures out to meet his companions in a remote camp many miles away, with only his dog. Overwhelmed by the force of nature, he eventually dies along the way, leaving his four-legged companion to complete the journey alone. The story shows how the forces of nature can surprisingly overwhelm even the most confident of men. The traveler, or also called chechaquo, is the main character of the tale of London. He is a quick and alert man, but lacks the imagination to see things in the big picture. We know he is familiar with the Arctic environment, but it is clear that he has never experienced a situation like this. The man is attentive and rather resourceful, as demonstrated when he convinces the dog to walk in front of him on the ice, in case of weak points. A combination of arrogance and confidence is evident in almost every thought he has. Even in the face of his own immortality, man struggles to contain himself and remain calm. London uses the dog traveling with the man to support some of the less obvious points of the story. We know from the dog's thoughts that the weather is not simply cold, but almost unbearable. The central conflict in the story is the Traveler versus Nature. It shows a complete lack of respect for the environment in which he chose to travel. From the beginning the reader understands that man is undertaking a task for which most would expect more suitable conditions. His journey starts off well enough, but quickly turns disastrous when he breaks through the ice and gets wet to the waist. He's more angry than worried as he starts building a fire to dry his wet boots and socks. His arrogance shows when he thinks to himself, "Those old men were quite the women." Due to a grave mistake on his part in lighting a fire under a tree branch overloaded with fresh snow, his fire is extinguished when the heat causes the branch to collapse. His extremities are already numb from the cold and he lacks the dexterity to light another fire, so he begins running in an attempt to reach his companions' camp and increase his circulation enough to keep warm..