J The Importance of Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” in American Literature Jack London once said that “You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” One of his greatest works “To Build a Fire” is a stellar example of how Jack London made this quote come to life since London literally went to the Alaskan Klondike to find his inspiration. London’s’ work relies heavily on the struggle between man and nature, brings to light countless realistic features of an important time in American history, and it features Darwinist thoughts and ideas that were introduced during this time period. London was alive in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, which proved to be an extremely volatile time period in which various changes …show more content…
Early on in the story, London provides quite a few clues that this struggle will eventually take a turn for the worst and it does relatively quickly. From the beginning the narrator is beginning to experience conflict with the temperature and the environment. The narrator immediately knows that “it was cold and uncomfortable”, however he did not know exactly what kind of cold he was encountering (London). When the narrator least expected it “at a place where there were no signs, the man broke through” (London pg. #). At this point the prominence of the conflict between the man and nature is highlighted. The narrator whom had controlled almost all aspects of his journey was all of a sudden thrown “into an existence over which [he had] no control” (Adams). The narrator himself continued to try to keep himself level headed as he faced the obstacle that mother nature had decided to face him with. The narrator found himself once again facing off against nature as he desperately tried to build a fire to keep from freezing. However, “the man tries to use reason instead of imagination to get him past his difficulties and safely to camp but, that human rationality proves to be helpless against the Klondike’s ‘killing landscape’” (Widdicombe) The environment provides disaster after disaster for the narrator of London’s work until nature eventually wins over him and …show more content…
This time period in history featured numerous amounts of people moving out to unexplored regions to prospect for valuable gold. In fact, according to Robert Niemi, London himself was “among an estimated quarter of a million men from all over the world who stampeded to Alaska in hopes of getting rich quick.” However, people failed to realize that this was not the case. In reality, as exhibited in “To Build a Fire,” immense hardships and tragic events plagued the explorers of the Klondike. The vast amount of people that left for the Klondike in hopes of riches was astonishing. However, the journey to even make it to the places where they were hoping to find riches was difficult. Of the scores of individuals that left to find gold “only fifty thousand would make it into the interior” for the opportunity to prospect for riches
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.
Waking up to discover the immense, pristine wilderness of Alaska, listening to the birds chirping their sounds while feeling the tremble of your heart beating through your veins. Trees as far as one can see with rolling hills and distant peaks covered with unblemished snow. The sounds of streams growing larger until they rush over a fall, and into an untainted lake. Pondering the true meaning of life while observing Mother Nature’s true grace. Very few people can relate to this scene of the wild. One of them being Christopher Johnson McCandless, a young pioneer and traveler, who was determined to seek the truth no matter what the cost.
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.
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
Macbeth’s Corruption In Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, is given a prophecy by witches that he will become king. Macbeth gullibly believes the prophecy fully and doesn’t even question it, even ignoring advice from Banquo, his friend, about said prophecies wanting to bring down his downfall. His total belief in the prophecies (and Lady Macbeth’s support) led the once kind and neutral man to do unthinkable deeds, like killing Duncan, the king, to speed up the process of becoming king. He even kills Banquo, due to him fearing the prophecy about Banquo’s children becoming king, showing how invested and dedicated Macbeth is to becoming king. Further on into the play, Macbeth commits ever worsening actions, killing Macduff’s family, and Siward’s
“Gold” headlines read in 1887 at start of the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon Territory. “The great gold rushes of the nineteenth century are certainly among the most dramatic episodes of American western history” (Morse 2003). Compared to the other gold rushes of the nineteenth century, the Klondike Gold Rush remains a vibrant part of U.S. history luring various famous people to the last frontier such as Jack London and Wyatt Earp. The discovery of gold in 1896 along the Klondike River prompted prospectors from across the United States and Canada travel to the Yukon. Upon arrival, the prospectors remained woefully ignorant to the trail’s hostile
Introduction In the UK, all the people who are using the health services are expectant that the providers of care should be able to treat most of their information with a lot of confidentiality. The relationship between most of the doctors and the patients has to be built on trust and this is enhanced by the way the doctors treat patient information and data. The doctors have to keep the patient information very confidential because this can lead to a great relationship existing between them.
“To Build a Fire” by Jack London is a short story about a man traveling through the Alaskan Yukon to meet up with his friends for lunch. The author keeps the character nameless and refers to him only as “The Man” which is used to show a connection between humanity and nature. The story shows the hardships the man goes through to get to his destination through the Alaskan Yukon, yet unfortunately doesn’t make it. The conflict is a man versus nature theme which contrasts strong and direct relations of the hardships in nature. Throughout this analysis, I am going to explore the conflict between the man and the merciless nature he has to go through before his death.
The Klondike Gold Rush had begun on August 16, 1869, when Yukon area Indians had found gold in Rabbit Creek, near a town named Dawson in Canada. Word of the discovery of gold in the Klondike hadn’t reached other regions in the world till July 17, 1897, when gold-rushers finally set off to go to the vast Yukon territory. According to estimation, there was around 100,000 gold-seekers who decided to test their luck on acquiring some of the valuable gold, which had been literally coming in by the tons! In the end, only 30,000 gold-seekers had successfully reached the Yukon territory. Unfortunately, many of these gold-seekers whom tried to reach the Yukon territory had faced many complications, which
A small group of prospectors were exploring a tributary of the Klondike River when they uncovered gold. As news quickly spread of this extraordinary discovery, miners began to stalk every creek and streem in the area in order to find their fortune. In addition, the gold rush didn’t only positively impact prospectors, it gave way for a whole new variety of entrepreneur that set up their own shops to supply prosecutors with equipment such as stoves, clothing, sleds, tents, and dried foods. In addition, men would buy their own steamboats to ferry local prospectors to the Yukon. By 1897 and 1898 thousands of hopeful stampeaders flooded to the Alaskan Klondike to strike it rich among others was Jack London where he got the inspiration to write many of his novels about the gold rush including Call of The
century London was not a nice place to live. Crime was on the up with
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
As far as plot is concerned the setting plays as large a role as the wandering man does. The plot of the story is a simple one: a man who should have heeded the warnings of others must struggle to survive treacherous terrain and reach his friends at their camp. However London's attention to detail creates a desolate wasteland that in the end destroys the unlucky hiker. London's words create a chill as they describe the "far-reaching hairline trail" of which the man must follow (London 118). He also describes the temperature as "a bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against" which is presumably appropriate for seventy-five degrees below zero (London 118-119). The plot becomes void if the man has not the enemy and companionship of the setting therefore producing a heavy reliance on that setting.
He uses style devices such as symbolism, tone and imagery. Some ways he uses symbolism in "To Build a Fire" is at the beginning when it was interred because the man is going to die, because as it was saying "there seemed to be an intangible pall over the face of things". In the end of the story the man ended up dying because of the extreme cold conditions and setting of the story was able to foreshadow that this was going to happen. Some ways he uses imagery in "Love of Life", London describes the situation of how the man had to bite the neck of the injured wolf so he was able to live; this makes the reader be able to visualize the struggle of the wolf to live and the struggle of the man to live, so the man had to kill the wolf in order to live. There is also tone in each of the stories. The tone in both of the stories is dramatic because of all the thing they would have to do including to deal with the harsh weather and all the obstacles they had to face and fight for them selfs throughout the whole journey. For all of these reasons plus more reasons London has a poetic style due to the poetic devices he uses in his