Read the excerpt from Part 2 of “To Build a Fire.” A certain fear of death, dull and oppressive, came to him. This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of freezing his fingers and toes, or of losing his hands and feet, but that it was a matter of life and death with the chances against him. This threw him into a panic, and he turned and ran up the creek bed along the old, dim trail. The dog joined in behind and kept up with him. He ran blindly, without intention, in fear such as he had never known in his life. How does this conflict affect the plot? The man runs with renewed vigor and safely returns. The man becomes weak and resigns himself to death. The man is gripped with fear and returns to build his fire. The man sustains an injury and hobbles weakly to camp.
