Jack London's To Build A Fire

To build a fire is a short story written by Jack London. It is a story about an individual’s choice. The main character’s self-centeredness overcomes him, as he tries to survive the wintery weather in his travel in the Yukon Trail. He made a choice of ignoring the weather warnings, which evidenced danger in his journey. There were warnings like the absence of fellow travelers due to the cold season, but his egoism made him still embark on the journey alone, despite the warnings. The protagonist’s pride and arrogance leads to a regrettable outcome, as it leads to his downfall. The protagonist made the wrong choices because of his egotism, and arrogance and they led to his downfall. He defied nature due to his lack of logical judgment, and

The short story "To build a Fire" by Jack London, tells about the relationship between man and nature. The story takes place in the Yukon during one of the long night. The main character who is unnamed travels with a dog along a small trail to a mining camp. The man leaves against the advice of a local and after a short time realizes that he should have waited. The temperature is extremely cold because the mans spit freezes before it hits the ground. The main obstacle of his journey is the many covered springs that mean death to whoever falls into them. The man sends his dog in front of him to make sure that the trail is safe. Eventually the dog falls into one of the springs and gets his paws wet.

If developed the right way, the setting can play an important role in a story like this. London builds his setting up quickly, within the first words of this story. The story is set in the wintertime with no sign of the sun, at the Yukon Trail. A deadly and extremely cold area in the country of Canada. In the story, the narrator states, “Day had dawned cold and gray when the man turned aside

At first he though that it was only a small problem and the cold might cost him a couple of fingers, but towards the end he realized that it was his life that he was fighting for. When the fire failed the second time he became desperate. "He remembered the tale of the man, caught in a blizzard, who killed a steer and crawled inside his carcass, and so was saved." This "put a wild idea into his head," "He would kill the dog and bury in the warm body until the numbness went out of them." When the man failed to kill the dog "A certain fear of death, dull and oppressive, came over him." He began to panic and run blindly to the camp. Although he knew he lacked the endurance he drove forward until collapsing for the final time. Once again he saw the warm dog and became angry and envious of his warmth. Eventually he sat up and decided to meet "death with dignity." After he accepts his death he has an out of body experience, and then "drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep that he had ever known."

you analyze how the novelist reveals the values of the character and the nature of the character’s

A good writer’s depiction of setting positions the reader right into the story. In "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, the setting plays a significant role throughout the entire short story.  London uses certain techniques to establish the atmosphere of the story.  By introducing his readers to the setting, prepares them for a tone that is depressed and frightening.  Isolated by the hostile environment of the Yukon in sub-freeing temperatures, a man falls victim to the unrelenting and unforgiving power of nature, London shows us how the main character of the story is completely unaware of his surroundings. The only world the man is truly accustomed to is his own. Never being exposed to such a harsh climate draws one to conclude that the

In Jack London's “To Build A Fire” the story follows a man and his dog in the Klondike and their obstacles of trying to get to the boys which are his compatriots. The story revolves around the winter and how mankind reacts to the wild. The author uses nature to illustrate the poem’s tone by vilifying nature and using it as an obstacle.

Nature is always pushing man to his limits. When man heeds the warning signs that nature has to offer and those warnings of other men, he is most likely to conquer nature. When he ignores these warnings, nature is sure to defeat man. To build a fire is a prime example of this scenario. In the short story, “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, an inexperienced traveler in the Yukon travels alone with his dog, even though it is ill advised to do so. The man is strong and smart but nature humbled him during his quest to reach his friends. The man’s inexperience with traveling in the cold subzero temperatures doomed him from the beginning, but his strong focus under extreme pressure and his keen sense of

character who you learn about their lives and the way they think about an action that

The man learns his lesson the hard way.The man encountered many internal warnings that it was too cold to be outside. First, his nose and cheeks went numb. His face, feet, and hands followed. His beard and mustache grew icy from his breath.

“To Build a Fire” is a short story written by Jack London. It is viewed as a masterpiece of naturalist fiction. “To Build a Fire” features a miner who is traveling to the Yukon Territory with a dog as his companion. The miner is the protagonist and the dog companion is called the foil. The dog plays off of the traits of the protagonist. “The central motif of “To Build a Fire” concerns the struggle of man versus nature.” (Short Story Criticism) The most argued point in the short story is the reason of the protagonist death. “Some critics believe that it was his lack of intuition and imagination that lead to his death, while others say that he dies because of panic.” (Short Story Criticism) The protagonist in “To Build a Fire” struggles in

Jack London’s stories “To Build a Fire” and "Love of Life” can be summarized in a short précis’s. "Love of Life” is a story about a man abandoned in the Yukon by his partner Bill after he sprained his ankle. Along the way, the man struggles with natures forces, hunger and humanity are sacrificed in an attempt to survive its dangerous territory. Towards the end the man is crawling, his knees are bloody stumps, he is powered only by his will to live. A wolf follows him, too sick to hunt; it limps after the man hoping for him to die. The man makes the choice to kill the wolf, sinking his teeth into its neck for an hour and a half, and later wriggles on to a beach where he is spotted by a ship’s crew and lives on. “To Build a Fire” is the story

As far as plot is concerned the setting plays as large a role as the wandering man does. The plot of the story is a simple one: a man who should have heeded the warnings of others must struggle to survive treacherous terrain and reach his friends at their camp. However London's attention to detail creates a desolate wasteland that in the end destroys the unlucky hiker. London's words create a chill as they describe the "far-reaching hairline trail" of which the man must follow (London 118). He also describes the temperature as "a bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against" which is presumably appropriate for seventy-five degrees below zero (London 118-119). The plot becomes void if the man has not the enemy and companionship of the setting therefore producing a heavy reliance on that setting.

“To Build a Fire” by Jack London is a short story about a man traveling through the Alaskan Yukon to meet up with his friends for lunch. The author keeps the character nameless and refers to him only as “The Man” which is used to show a connection between humanity and nature. The story shows the hardships the man goes through to get to his destination through the Alaskan Yukon, yet unfortunately doesn’t make it. The conflict is a man versus nature theme which contrasts strong and direct relations of the hardships in nature. Throughout this analysis, I am going to explore the conflict between the man and the merciless nature he has to go through before his death.