What can you infer from the following phrases in the opening paragraph, "…there seemed an intangible pall…" and "…a subtle gloom that made the day dark…"? (in "to build a fire")

We can infer something bad will happen.

Explanation:

From the phrases in the opening paragraph,  "…there seemed an intangible pall…" and "…a subtle gloom that made the day dark…" we can safely infer the story will take a tragic turn. A pall is a cloth placed over a coffin. Therefore, from the very beginning, the writer subtly alludes to death. Darkness is also commonly related to death, to fear, to hopelessness, while light or brightness is connected to the precise opposite.

As it turns out, those sentences function as foreshadowing. The main character in the short story "To Build a Fire" does indeed die. He underestimates nature's fierceness. Unable to protect himself from the harsh cold weather in the Yukon territory, he dies acknowledging his mistake.

the author motivation is to show the power of animal-human relationships.

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