How is the man characterized in the story?

The man in "To Build a Fire" is characterized through a mixture of direct and indirect characterization. Most of it is done through indirect characterization, but the narrator does directly tell readers that the man is observant, and he has trouble with imagining beyond threats that are directly in front of him.


The trouble with him was that he was not able to imagine.


A bit later in the story is when readers get the observant detail.  


Empty as the man’s mind was of thoughts, he was most observant. He noticed the changes in the creek, the curves and the bends. And always he noted where he placed his feet.


The majority of the man's characterization is done through indirect methods. Readers are meant to make inferences about the man based on his actions, thoughts, and words.  For example, the above quote indicates that the man is not only observant, but he is also careful. The sentence doesn't say "careful," but readers can infer that detail about the man based on the fact that he always notes where he is going to place his feet.
Based on another event in the story, I believe that readers could safely say that the man is a mixture of confident, ignorant, stubborn, and even pompous. He is confident in his own abilities to stay alive, which is probably why he ignores the advice to not go out in this current weather. He wants to do things his way regardless of the weather and information at hand. That's why I see stubborn, but perhaps he's also just flat out ignorant about how dangerous the cold can be. This would explain why he believes the old man is being "womanish." That kind of overconfident and condescending attitude is why I think he's pompous.  


He remembered the advice of the old man on Sulphur Creek, and smiled. The man had been very serious when he said that no man should travel alone in that country after 50 below zero. Well, here he was; he had had the accident; he was alone; and he had saved himself. Those old men were rather womanish, he thought.

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