A single word inserted or removed can change the feeling of a story in an instant; creating tingling sensations that run down the entire spine or even a compulsive movement to put the piece down and never pick it up again. In many cases an author will write and rewrite their stories until they are perfect. Jack London was largely one of these authors, sending his first version of "To Build a Fire" to a magazine before rewriting it into the masterpiece many are more familiar with today. However, only one of the versions strongly exemplifies the hard truth and the fight against the uncontrollable and unpredictable nature that is realism and naturalism. In many ways London's two distinct works are similar, but also in many ways they are different. Of all the modifications and changes with which London reconstructed his masterpiece, the most important concerned the main character, the brutal descriptions of the cold and the changes in the plot. In “To Build a Fire” there are numerous differences between the main character in the 1902 and 1908 versions. When London first decided to publish his work in 1902 for a magazine, he named the main character, Tom Vincent, by name, as well as describing him as a “strong young boy, with big bones and muscles, with self-confidence and in the strength of the head and hands" (116). However, the main character in the 1908 version was much less conspicuous than his counterpart in the primary draft, as the main character is now stripped of his name and assigned only to man, with no other indicators relating to his physical appearance. His personality, on the other hand, seems to be something of a constant with only a slight difference between the two adaptations. In the initial work London thus inserted... in the center of the paper... a cold of one hundred and seven degrees below zero" (487). The dog then continues to crouch in the snow without warning the man of the danger that could lead to his death. Then, in the 1902 version, the solitary protagonist survives the cold, but in the best-known version the man has a companion and dies, losing himself and accepting his loss in the battle against nature. In these two works, Jack London demonstrates his ability to transform a short story into a masterpiece by changing some fundamental things. Even the slightest change it made to the plot, setting descriptions, and main character can make everything better and even more fascinating, and makes us want to pick it up again and again. Works CitedLondon, Jack. "To light a fire." Adventures in American Literature. Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1989: 483-493London, Jack. "To light a fire." (1902) Handout.
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