To Build A Fire, By Jack London

“If a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, then he hasn’t got a reason to live.” These were famous words of the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., spoken June 23, 1963 in Detroit, Michigan.

When the time came to build a fire to survive the first accident in the water, his irresponsibility essentially cost him his life. He forgot to build a fire promptly after he got wet, which made it extremely difficult build one after it. His fingers got numb and rigid, making it hard to even light a match. Eventually, the man gave up hope when the last of his matches were snuffed out. Even when it was too late to start a fire, the man’s condition of his hands prevented him by his last resort to kill the dog he was with for warmth. Ultimately he knew his only option was to lay down and go to sleep. The cold had gotten to him so bad that he didn’t mind laying down at the very end of his life. The satisfaction he got when he fell to sleep was much needed by him after his cold journey that day.

Being a man isn’t always easy, for most of their life they are taught to show no affection and to be tough in almost every situation. The tragedy of machismo is that a man is never quite man enough. “Hunters in the Snow”, by Tobias Wolff, three hunting buddies, Frank, Tub and Kenny, set out on a hunting trip together as they have done for years. Tub, who is over-weight, self-conscious and a good friend, shows some of his weaknesses, strengths and hardships that are sometimes placed on men in different situations.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” –Albert Einstein

I don't see any reason to wear a helmet when I ride a bike. Everyone bikes without a helmet.

but he chooses to go out by himself anyway, and doesn’t heed on the side of caution due to his masculine “I can do it myself” attitude. According to Washington State University, in an article titled “Naturalism in American Literature”, “Naturalistic writers thus used a version of the scientific method to write their novels”. London does a good job of incorporating this belief in the scientific method into the story. It demonstrates the way the man thinks through each step of his journey, such as when he fell through the snow and ice, and into the water. He was quick to think of the steps he must attempt to have a chance at saving himself from frostbite and freezing to death (although he was unsuccessful with his steps). With every trial, he has a sort of arrogance about his journey, like

Usually when a person is given advice from an older and wiser person, they accept and use the advice. This man refused the advice given to him by the man from Sulphur Creek. He recollected when the old man told him how cold it got sometimes, and the man laughed at the thought. Once again, after he fell into the freezing water, he remembered the old man telling him that no man should travel alone in 50 below 0 weather or colder. After escaping the cold water, he had made a fire to warm himself up; all was going well. This made him think how “womanish” the old man was and how much of a manly man he, himself was (London 553). Soon, thereafter, his fire was put out by the snow on a tree because of his recklessness when gathering sticks for the fire. After that he realized

You ever felt the edge of death? The beckoning scream for sweet release that comes with its pros and cons. Well the story, “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, is based on the theme of that. This story is about an unnamed man and his dog traveling to a village. A simple voyage in the summer but in the cold, harsh winters of the Yukon, it is not as bright.

Dylan Richardson Mrs.Briscoe English 1 Honors 7 September 2017 Violence in the story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London “What does the author want us to understand about violence? Well, there are many things that include violence in the story “Build a Fire,” by Jack London. The old man that went on the adventure with dog did a lot of violent things in the story. Like when he wanted to kill the dog for food; he fell in the freezing water and almost died.

What is the meaning of life? Well known Greek philosphers such as Socrates and Plato believed that our purpose in this life was to gain knowledge in preparation for the next life. Other Philosophers such as Epicurus believed that pleasure is the main goal in life. After giving these ideas lots of thought, I have come to my own conclusion that the true meaning of life is far more complex than either of these; far too complex for any human to fully comprehend. In fact these two different philosophies are only part of the grand picture. If it were that easy for men to figure out our lives wouldn't be so messed up now. The meaning of life revolves around many different things. I

Some people don't realize how simple, yet complicated life is, that the point of it is not to ‘lose or win or become successful', but to die knowing that you have lived your life to the maximum and get the satisfaction from that. That you have created and destroyed, that you lived and the sun shone on you, and most importantly, that you left a footprint behind you.

Do you think you could survive the Yukon trail, a mile wide and three feet of ice, and just as many feet of snow, in weather colder than fifty below? The story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, is about a man who tried to take the Yukon trail and get to his friends with just a dog to guide him. He was told that no one has ever made the journey alone, yet he chose to take on the journey. Through the story the man faces many conflicts not only through himself in having too much pride, but also with the physical ones such as the cold which lead to his death. The main theme in the book is the man’s perseverance to try and survive. The man on the Yukon Trail has to show perseverance through the story even with the harsh weather and signs of bad events coming upon him. In his story “To Build a Fire,” Jack London discusses the theme of perseverance through two literary elements, conflict and foreshadowing.

Life as we know it could vanish within seconds. The next day is not promised to anyone that walks on this earth. As we live our everyday lives peacefully, we tend not to think what our mission or purpose in life is. Instead, we think what we must do for that to be a “successful” person. Despite this way of thinking, just think for a second. What makes life meaningful? What is life anyway? These questions dive right into the heart of the philosophical, psychological, and the biological aspects of life and what the true meaning of life is. This is a very arguable topic due to every person’s different perspective on life and what it means to them. In summary, I personally think that life is simply what you make of it and each person’s accomplishments has its own merit

This explains the beginning of my life all the way to the end of my life. My life from the beginning was very fun as I grew up living with my mom’s friend and my friend. But there were a lot of fights and I was very hyper back then. I have ADHD so back then when I was little; I was very hyper and wouldn't stop moving around the place. I always was annoying back then and never seemed to get my homework done at school.