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Themes In To Build A Fire By Jack Landon

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“To Build a Fire” by Jack Landon is written with a simple plot and a valuable moral lesson to learn. The title suggests that a fire will be built, at least by the end of the story, rather than the lack of success in fire building. The main character and his dog are determined to get to the mining camp where his friends are. Unfortunately, to get there he must take the risk of disregarding an elder’s advice to not travel alone through Yukon in those weather conditions. He begins stubborn and persistent but as he travels along, he soon realizes that the constant effort to build a fire is not good enough to survive in that environment. Matches are no longer an option when he runs out with still no fire. Desperation overtook him but he was left with no contingency plan, leaving him ready to face death with pride as he slowly lost feeling throughout his body. Foreshadowing was used several times throughout “To Build a Fire” and builds to the climax. The first instance is when the dog is feeling unsure about traveling to Yukon through the weather. The second is when the elder insists that he should also not travel in those conditions. When the main character begins to have bad luck building the fire, it begins to confirm the foreshadowing to the reader. Persistence and situational awareness are key themes in the story and beautifully complement each other. While persistence is essential to reach any goal, the story also illustrates that one must also have awareness of their

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