The conflict between a protagonist and an antagonist—a story’s two most essential characters—is an age-old storytelling trope. Writers of films, plays, and literary works have a long history of using the tension created by the protagonist and antagonist competing against each other toward conflicting goals to drive a story forward, evolving and developing the definition and characteristics of both types of characters.
To Build a Fire is the story of a young miner who has come to the Yukon to find gold. He is traveling toward his camp on a cold, windy afternoon, against the advice of a seasoned miner. He falls through some ice and gets his feet wet, necessitating building a fire to dry off and warm up. Unfortunately, his fire fails, and the man ends up freezing to death. When it is clear he's dead, his dog deserts him, heading for the warmth and food of the mining camp.
