Pride and arrogance
The pride of the central protagonist is evident in his decision to not listen to all of the advice from the old-timer. As a newcomer to the area, the man is described as having very little knowledge and no experience of surviving such cold temperatures and yet he chooses to travel alone despite what he has been told.
His lack of foresight and imagination is elemental to the arrogance on display and his treatment of his dog serves to emphasise a desire to control nature. This arrogance is punished in the narrative as he comes to recognize that he finally has no choice but to give into death.
Because of his death, the narrative has a moral edge that demonstrates how arrogance and individualism are destructive forces. These two qualities are depicted as being interrelated as the man’s decision to travel alone is in keeping with both his arrogance and the individualistic way of life.
The dangers of the freezing temperature
This thematic concern runs throughout the story and gives it a dramatic context. It is explained and then repeated several times how dangerous it would be if the man should get wet and fail to build a fire to dry out. The coldness is the man’s enemy and is also a symbol of the natural world in competition with humanity. In this instance, the representative man is thwarted.