10
QuizMultiple Choice

Conflict and Theme in "To Build a Fire," Part 2

Question 10 • English 9 A

Read the excerpt from Part 2 of “To Build a Fire.”He spoke to the dog, calling it to him; but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal, who had never known the man to speak in such a way before. Something was the matter, and its suspicious nature sensed danger—it knew not what danger, but somewhere, somehow, in its brain arose an apprehension of the man. It flattened its ears down at the sound of the man's voice, and its restless, hunching movements and liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced; but it would not come to the man. He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog. This unusual posture again excited suspicion, and the animal sidled mincingly away.

Answer
A
character vs. self
B
character vs. others
C
character vs. society
D
character vs. nature

Explanation

The man is trying to get the dog to come closer, but the dog is frightened by his voice and movements and moves away. The conflict is between two characters—the man and the dog—so it is character vs. others. It is not character vs. nature, because the difficulty described here is the dog’s resistance, not a force of the natural world.

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