Themes In Jack London's To Build A Fire

Jack London was born in 1876, and died in 1916. He was born in San Francisco, California, and was the son of Flora Wellman Chaney. When he was a child, he would sometimes living with the Prentisses. Mr. and Mrs. Prentisses were African Americans who served as London’s surrogate parents. When Jack turned 15, he sailed the San Francisco Bay as an oyster pirate. During his time on the water, London developed an alcohol problem, which would eventually become alcoholism. In 1894, London was arrested as

The Existential Theme of London’s “To Build A Fire"           Jack London’s short story, “To Build a Fire,” is the tragic tale of a man who decides to travel alone through the hostile environment of the Yukon in sub-freeing temperatures and falls victim to the unrelenting and unforgiving power of nature. During his journey, the man gets his feet wet as he falls through the ice into the water of a hot spring (London 122). Because of the severity of the cold, some “one hundred and seven degrees

Jack London, an American author known for his thrilling adventure stories, showed the world that even an exciting story that takes place in exotic settings can include all the intricacies of great literature. This is seen in many of his stories with the implementation of symbolism, many times a recurring theme in his work. Also, London used many ideas of the day such as Darwinism and Spencerism in his writings in order to better portray his views. However, perhaps one of the most telling signs that

Jack London was one of the great writers in the Naturalism Period, his pieces came from a unique experience during a winter spent in the Yukon. His stories are truly special pieces to read. London, who was born 1876 in San Francisco, ventured to the Yukon in the winter of 1897 which provided inspiration for his literary art (“Jack London: Biography”). Author of many other stories, he published “To Build a Fire” in 1902; he later died in 1916 (“Jack London: Biography”). In this story, a man and a

life.” Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” is an examination of one man’s journey through the Yukon wilderness, alone in less than ideal conditions. The setting in the story “To Build a Fire” is the Yukon territory during a cold winter with frigid temperatures that were measured in excess of seventy-five degrees below zero. The man in the story succumbed to the conditions and deserved what happened to him. Jack London uses setting and theme to help communicate his message. Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”

The main theme of “To Build a Fire” by Jack London is naturalism. Jack London has his own experiences in the Youkan that have been said to have links to the story To Build a Fire and his naturalistic viewpoints that have even influenced Ernest Hemmingway. This story was written in the early 1900’s describing a man and his dog who are new to the Yukon. The man and his dog plan on a nine-hour hike in -75° F weather. He is warned not to travel alone but the man thinking he is above nature takes on the

Jack London’s short story “To Build a Fire,” tells of a man who decides upon traveling in the acutely cold and unforgiving Yukon environment alone to regroup with his friends at a distant camp. Along the trip, the man walks across a hot spring which he perceives to be safe and breaks through the ice instantly getting his feet wet. The man knows what he must do to stay alive in such a situation, to build a fire, the only challenge is keeping the fire alive in such horrid conditions. The man tries

Jack London’s short story, “To Build a Fire,” is the tragic tale of a man who decides to travel alone through the hostile environment of the Yukon in sub-freeing temperatures and falls victim to the unrelenting and unforgiving power of nature. During his journey, the man gets his feet wet as he falls through the ice into the water of a hot spring (London 122). Because of the severity of the cold, some “one hundred and seven degrees below [the] freezing point,” the man’s life depends upon his ability

Jack London had a naturalistic philosophy that made him a blockbuster writer. His short stories, such as “To Build a Fire” and “The Law of Life”, express London’s perception of life. The realistic endings to his stories were often brutal, but for this reason, they became very popular. While both stories — as mentioned above — have different plots and elements, they both contain similar ideas. In the story “To Build a Fire”, a man travels through the Yukon on an extremely cold day. Even though the

The next step up in London’s stories would be naturalism. Both of London’s stories revolve around the idea of naturalism. In “Love Of Life” the man is left very unprepared and left as a victim to nature. He is left injured and is forced to try and survive. Due to the frozen weather the man is forced to struggle for many days over hunger and once again that would be man’s victimized by nature. He was forced to do things such as eating the bad berries, digging for worm even though he knows there is