How Does Jack London Show The Power Of Nature

The Short story, ‘To Build a Fire’ by Jack London, published in 1908, is an archetypal naturalist tale regarding a man who travels alone through the unforgiving Yukon in Winter, before ultimately falling victim to the harsh environment. The story portrays the issues in being unaware of the power of nature and portrays a strong naturalist, In the very beginning of the story, his indifference to the forces of nature is evident through London’s vivid imagery of the uninhabited environment and the man’s nonchalant tone imitated through the neutral diction present. Furthermore, the quote “The trouble with him was that he was without imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances,” explicitly foreshadows that an issue will come of his indifference

When the man was trying desperately to re-light the fire he removed his gloves and lost all feeling in his hands. If he had remained calm and thought about his situation he might have had a chance to survive. Nature showed no mercy when the man attempted to re-light the fire using only his palms, and he failed. "He was losing his battle with the frost. It was creeping into his body from all sides."(1754) The man's unfortunate mistakes cost him his life and nature felt no sympathy for him. He was just another man who failed to defeat nature for one more day. If the man had brought along a companion for the journey like the old man in the town had suggested he would still be alive. However, his stubbornness would not submit to that. "The old-timer on Sulfur Creek was right, he thought in the moment of controlled despair that ensued: after fifty below, a man should travel with a partner."(1752). Instead the man brought a wolf dog with him to keep him company. The only thing that the dog was good for was as an outlet for the man's jealously when he realized all the mistakes he had made. The man envied how the dog could just sit in the snow and his warm fur would protect him from the elements. The mistakes that the man made reflect everyday life by showing how just one accident or miscalculation can cost you your life. Naturalism utilized the environment to show how fierce and apathetic the world can be. In the opening scene of "To Build a Fire" London used a bleak

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.

Readers of all ages, literature lovers, and book fanatics often find conflicts within their own lives just as the characters of the stories they read do. Some are able to find a way to overcome and conquer, while others get stuck behind or can not find a way to beat them. In Jack London’s short story called “To Build a Fire,” the main character conflicts with mother nature, who keeps tearing him down at every possible point. The main character, who is only referred to as the Man, is battling his way alone through the harsh temperatures of the Yukon. On this journey he runs into many obstacles and challenges. The Man does not listen to the advice he is given, leading to his inevitable death at the end. The most notable theme London builds

In 1897 London and his brother-in-law, Captain James Shepard joined the Klondike Gold Rush. He used this experience to describe the settings of some of his first successful writings. His time spent in the Klondike was very harmful to his health. Like many other men working in the harsh conditions, London was malnourished in the goldfields, and he developed scurvy. He lost four of his front teeth and he was plagued by constant pain in his hips and legs. His face was scared by the rigid work he endured, and these hard ships inspired London to write his short story, “To Build a Fire”. London’s exceptional use of foreshadowing in the title and within the first couple of lines of his story tells the reader that the character of the story will come into hardship, his use of foreshadowing is expressed within the first sentence of his story, “There was no sun or promise of sun, although there was not a cloud in the sky. It was a clear day. However, there seemed to be an indescribable darkness over the face of things.” (London) of not traveling alone.

In the short story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, the protagonist foremost values his pride, which leads to his demise. The story starts off with the protagonist taking a detour in the Yukon so that he could survey the trees in the area (he was doing this so that he could send logs down the river to the gold prospecting camp, where he would sell the wood to the prospectors for money). But, the protagonist’s pride blinds him from what could have and should have done to ensure his survival in the Yukon. About halfway through his journey, he accidentally breaks through the ice on the spring and his foot falls into the water. At the temperatures mentioned in the story (seventy below zero), if he did not dry himself properly, it could lead to serious frostbite and/or death. So, he was forced to build a fire, and the “fire was a success. He was safe. He remembered the advice of the old timer on Sulphur Creek, and smiled. The old-timer had been very serious in laying down that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below. Well, here he was; he had had an accident: he was alone; and he had saved himself. Those old-timers were rather womanish” (London 8). The man keeps feeding the fire and gets ready to take his (frozen and potentially dangerous) footwear off, and feels content and a sense of satisfaction of disproving the old-timers. But, just as it seemed to be that the fire was stable and strong, snow that was on the branches of the spruce tree he was under fell

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.

The man is also weak in the face of nature as nature tortures him with the physical accidents the man suffers. He firstly begins when his cheekbones and nose went numb and becomes worse as he looses touch and grasp of his hands, finishing off with the freezing of his corpse and sudden stiff death. London exclaims about the accounts the man has suffered, “This man did not know cold.” (London, 487) and “He was loosing in his battle with the frost.” (London, 493) I do agree because the man is a new comer, a chechaquo, meaning that it is the man’s first contact with such freezing environment. The man constantly through out the story efforts in combating against the forces of nature that he can not control the reason being because he was inexperienced to such environment, therefore the man is bound to be with the odds and like London exclaims, loose his battle with his environment. The environment shaped him such that it proved he is not fit enough to live in the extreme cold.

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

In Jack London's "To Build a Fire" we see a classic story of man against nature. In this story, however, nature wins. One reason that this is such a compelling and engrossing story is the vivid descriptions of the environment the nameless main character endures. Plot and characterization are brief, and the theme is simple. Yet this story is still a very popular story, and it has a mysterious quality that makes it great.

Another author made a short story called “To Build A Fire,” by Jack London which portrays a man and his dog in the cold weather of the Yukon. “It did not lead him to meditate upon his failte as a creature of temperature, and upon man's in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold; and from these on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and man's place in the universe,” (597). This quotes shows the idea that man does not understand nature and its connection to the universe, which will get him killed. “The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold. I knew that it was no time for traveling. It's Instinct toilets a truer tale than was told to the man by the man’s judgments,” (598). This quotes tells the idea that man has left nature far so much that they have lost basic instincts of survival, such as the instincts of the alaskan husky. But these quotes show that man is useless when it comes to Nature without their dependency on technology.

Jack London portrayed Naturalism perfectly in “To Build a Fire”. Typically naturalism is based off of Scientific laws, throughout the story London focuses on the idea that nature is different to man. Naturalistic stories typically focus on the plot rather than the character which was exactly what London did during this story. The unnamed man faced challenges throughout the entire story that proved there were aspects of nature that were just not meant for man. The man had to constantly think about his every move to survive but he let his arrogance had The man's arrogance, foolish mistakes and lack of fear towards Natures unbeatable strength lead him to his death.

Jack London’s short story “To Build a Fire” is about a man’s battle to survive during a Yukon winter. The unnamed man has to accept that he isn’t greater than nature, and the setting Jack London created was the perfect example. Nature’s power is immense and will not be overpowered by men. Jack London used nature as the foreshadowing force to predict the man’s future.

To Build a Fire Jack London expresses the unforgiving conditions of nature by writing of a man who is roaming through the Yukon, with no company but a dog, and how in the end his stubbornness and Mother Nature’s brute weather conditions and nature’s inability to care for the man ultimately lead to his demise.