After reading the short stories, “To Build a Fire” by Jack London and “The Other Two” by Edith Wharton, one may notice a plethora of similarities and contrasts. Both stories reside within the realm of classic short story that employ the use of local color. They have some of those distinctively classic differences such as setting and conflict type which set them apart from each other.

“To Build a Fire” tells a story about a man and his husky dog and their experiences in the wilds of Alaska. The setting for this story is, of course, in Alaska. On the other hand, “The Other Two” is set in New York City-a stark contrast to the wilds of Alaska. This story briefly tells how a social climber, Alice, deals with relationships with three men.

The conflict in “To Build a Fire” is essentially a man versus nature type of conflict. London is reknowned for his stories based in naturalism, so this short story follows suit. Naturalism conflicts involve showing the relationship between man and nature which brings out the basic, brute, primordial instincts of man. The husky dog is not a “man” who is having a direct conflict with the story’s protagonist (the man), but rather he is a dog in conflict with nature and has to rely on “pure instinct.” The transit of the husky dog was most impressive due to the fact that, even though it could not intellectualize the cold as the man did, the dog did, indeed, have some knowledge about the cold as evidenced by London’s assigning numerical value to the temperature. Without even thinking about it, the dog instinctively intuits that the cold is harsh. The bitter environment of the Alaskan wilderness offers no assistance to the dog even if he is on the verge of perishing. In the same way, the dog only cares about himself.

“The Other Two” is a much more enjoyable story. It is an amazingly interesting, as well as lightly satirical story, in a “peaceful” environment. However, it rests on a serious social phenomenon which was relatively risque at the time-that of divorce. The story begins with the introduction of Alice and her completely dismissive manner. On the first night under Waythorn’s roof, after their honeymoon, Alice shows up late for dinner. Her first marriage is to a shabby, insignificantly normal man who Waythorn thinks looks like a “piano tuner.” However, ironically, she had her only child with this man which signifies her loss of virginity and innocence. She then marries Gus Varick who is more prosperous than the first husband. Gus gives Alice the social lift she has been so desperately seeking. Her marriage to Gus provides her a passport to the social set she has been craving to belong. After only a few years, she divorces Gus to marry Waythorn. Her transition to social elite is complete as she has become a true social climber and has climbed all the way to the top with no concern for those around her. This story reflects a man versus man conflict. The peaceful ending to this story provides a moral point. It demonstrates that even though Alice was a social climber, she did manage to finally settle down thereby quelling her internal conflict.

There does exist some commonalities between these two stories. The “selfish instincts” of the characters in both stories shows how men cannot rely on other men. Both stories also serve to tell the reader that “peace…is past storm equanimity…” The husky and Alice also share some common traits as each is a survivor who must wrestle with internal conflict in order to survive.

Both stories are examples of local color, or regionalism (regional writing). Regional awareness is apparent in London’s story as he details the wilds of Alaska and the detrimental effects that occur while dealing with such a harsh climate. He also employs the husky as a main character. Huskies are indigenous to that area and are famous for their abilities for withstanding the extreme cold of the region. Likewise, Wharton shows regional awareness by employing the social mores of the time in which her story takes place. She is most aware of what society thinks; furthermore, she is well aware of the customs and etiquette surrounding the high society set.