To Build A Fire Essay

I chose the story 'To Build a Fire' by Jack London. I chose this story because it was the one that caught my attention the most. As I was reading it, I really wanted to know the fate of the man at the end of the tale. This short story is about a man who sets out on a journey through the Yukon trail. He goes on the trip all alone, only accompanied by a dog despite the warnings of the locals that going alone on a journey with such freezing weather is dangerous. At the end, the man realizes he should have heeded the warnings as he slowly dies of hypothermia from the cold weather.

The narrator negated the advice given to him that, "no man should travel alone in the Yukon when the temperature is sixty degrees below zero." He failed to heed to the advice because he thought of how he had saved himself from the accident, and had built the fire alone. This was pride ruling him not knowing that, he was risking his life. His arrogance made him believe that he can make it all alone, and alive. The main character’s poor decisions led to his death. He was not compatible with the cold weather, and thus could not make it alone as his pride, and arrogance made him believe. His arrogance caused his death, because he imagined that he had the ability to travel alone in the harsh cold weather, and ignored the advice given to him. This instance of the narrator dying, because he thought

Death is a topic that unites all of humanity. While it can be uncomfortable to think about, confronting death in unavoidable. “Dying” addresses that discomfort and universal unwillingness to consider the inevitability of death. Pinsky’s use of imagery, symbolism, and tone create a poetic experience that is like death, something every reader can relate to. In “Dying,” Pinsky describes how people are oblivious and almost uncaring when it comes to the thought of death. Pinsky is trying to convince the reader that they shouldn’t ignore the concept of death because life is shorter than it seems.

     To Build a Fire is a story is a perfect example of the writing genre Naturalism. It contains elements like survival depends on instinct, nature is impersonal, man lacks free choice, and heredity and environment direct and influence our lives. In the story nature is the antagonist and is very impersonal, as it is in life. The dog

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

Including both Realism and Naturalism, “To Build a Fire,” is a story of a man and a dog traveling in the Yukon to a mining camp that is nine hours of hiking away. The title of the story itself shows the readers a sense of naturalism from the start. Naturalism is focused around an ill-educated or lower class individual

Some stories can have an emotional impact on readers, but every so often a story will reach out and help the reader escape into it. Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” is a fascinating story with a remarkably well described setting, and geographical descriptions of the surrounding Yukon areas. It portrays an overconfident man, whom because of his lack of intuition and stubbornness, succumbs to natures unforgiving climate.

By biological logic, we human beings will face death sooner or later in our life and death has its very own ways to approach us - a sudden deadly strike, a critical sickness, a tragic accident, a prolonged endurance of brutal treatment, or just an aging biological end. To deal with the prospect of death come different passive or active reactions; some may be scared and anxious to see death, some try to run away from it, and some by their own choice make death come faster. But Viktor Frankl, through his work Man’s Search for Meaning, and Bryan Doyle; in his essay “His Last Game” show us choices to confront the death, bring it to our deepest feelings, meaningful satisfaction. To me, the spirit of the prisoners at deadly concentration camps, Frankl’s Logotherapy theory of “. . . striving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man.” (99), as well as the calmness of Doyle’s brother on his last ride, like an awaken bell, remind us of how precious life is, how we should find the significance in every act of living, determine to live a meaningful life at any circumstances; hence, when death comes, we can accept it without anxiety nor regrets.

In the play “everyman” death is depicted as something that is terribly feared as no one seemed ready for it, death is perceived as something that takes one away from the pleasures of this world.

The type of naturalism in the setting of “To Build a Fire” is a metaphysical naturalism. “Metaphysical naturalism affirms that the natural world is the only real one, and that the human race is not separate from it, but belongs to it as a part” (Donald 1). London illustrates that “the man” is forced to succumb to nature because he has absolutely no control over it and is merely a part of it. With London’s initial descriptive words, he utilizes the weather to foreshadow the challenges that “the man” will face and provides the reader with a naturalistic approach on how nature will take tow on “the man”. The descriptions of the setting shows the reader how powerful nature is and how “the man” cannot conquer nature because he is a part of it. “The man” is in charge of his own doing, while Nature is in charge of every aspect of the environment in “To Build a

The protagonist is faced with “a certain fear of death” (733) upon his last failed effort to build a fire. “He [remembers] the tale of the man…who [kills] a steer and [crawls] inside the carcass” (732) in order to stay warm. The man knows that if he succeeds in killing his dog he will survive. He calls for the dog to move closer to him in hopes to “bury his hands in the warm body” (732). Fear laces the man’s tone triggering the dog’s instinctive nature; it knows something is wrong.

In the third paragraph of To Build A Fire by Jack London, he writes “He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances”. The meaning of this line in To Build A Fire is to foreshadow what later occurs and to introduce the theme of this epic tale. This unnamed man is warned about the dangers of the Yukon trail early in the journey by an old-timer who is far more experienced witht the Yukon trail but believes his intellect is no match for any type of danger nature could offer. The dog, however, can sense the trouble that lays ahead in the frozen wasteland and is hesitant to move onward. The fate of the traveler and his dog in To Build A Fire demonstrates the fatal dangers of favoring intellect over

The miner attempts to start another fire in the open but his efforts are futile.” (London 9) The miner thinks about killing his dog companion for the warmth but is too weak. “The man then panics and begins running until he can run no longer.” (London 11) The man dies shortly after many attempts to run to the camp. These facts lead some critics to believe that the protagonist dies as a result of panic and the failure of his rational faculties. (Short Story Criticism)

As the old saying goes, in this world nothing can be said to be sure, except death and taxes. Even everyone knows their life must have an end, but most of them still fear the death. In the short stories, A Drowning by Mark Ferguson and Red Bean Ice by Nancy Lee, authors have demonstrated the reaction and feeling of people to death. In these two stories, the characters are unlike the other person when death comes. They are both calm facing to death, and they are all insisting their hope. However, the reaction of people around them for their death is different.

Nature is a reoccurring concept that seems to poke its head into most literary works. The same can be said for Jack London’s To Build a Fire. Just like in most of Jack London’s works, To Build a Fire’s theme is survival and the duality of man and nature.