Discussion of the theme of Jack London’s short story “To Build a Fire”
The theme (man against nature) as seen in Jack London’s short story, “To Build a Fire,” provides the reader with many discussion topics. Topics such as man’s losing battle against nature, the arrogance of man, and also the perseverance of man are all discussed in this short story. This story has a theme of man against nature which will be discussed in this paper. In the short story, the man was constantly waging a losing battle against nature. Even the most prepared, most knowledgeable, and fittest man is no match for nature because nature can be unpredictable, mysterious, and stronger than any human strength. This is proven in London’s story. There is no doubt that the man was very knowledgeable about how to survive in sub-zero temperature. Yet, even with all of his knowledge, he was still unable to survive in the treacherous Yukon trail. It is also shown that the man was prepared. He made sure to keep his food “under his shirt, wrapped in a handkerchief, and lying for warmth against the naked skin. Otherwise the bread
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The man knew the dangers of traveling alone in the type of conditions he was in, but he still decided to travel alone. He even received advice from a wiser man, yet, thinking he was more manly than the wiser man, he disregarded the advice. The fact that the man was a newcomer to the land should have caused the man to take certain precautions. In his arrogance, he thought he could judge where all the hidden pools of water under the snow were located all on his own. This overestimation of his skills is what eventually led to his death. There were many signs available to the man to prove to the man that he should not be traveling in such severe weather “The sting that followed upon the striking of his fingers against his leg ceased so quickly that he was startled” (London
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.
Although the circumstances nature thrust at the man were immortaly dangerous, the man’s deficit of imagination and negligence innately led to his death. Psycologically, the man was no match for the treacherous conditions around
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
The man exhibits quite a bit of self-reliance and pride similar to McCandless. The man seems to do everything he can to make his journey successful, but he failed before his adventure began. No one really knows how dangerous nature can be until one has experience a near death experience. The man regrets not listening to the old-timer, thinking: “All this the man knew. The old-timer on Sulphur Creek had told him about it the previous fall, and now he was appreciating the advice.
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.
When his inexperience exposes itself to him, he remembers the old-timers words of wisdom. The man did not realize the prudence behind the old-timer’s words of wisdom. He ignored the old-timers cautions and dangers of traveling alone, making him foolish and naïve to his situation. “That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country. And he had laughed at him at the time!” (London, 528)
This is when he realized he made the foolish mistake of going on his journey alone, defying what the old man had advised him. The man had also many other mistakes throughout his
In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”, London describes a man’s tragic journey with his dog through the bitter Yukon. This journey ends in the death of the man as his careless decisions finally results in his downfall, however; his companion, the dog, is able to survive. London uses the dog in this story as to embody the natural survival instincts that the protagonist lacks. The dog portrays the role of the companion throughout the man’s journey.
“It grew like an avalanche, and it descended upon the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out!” (London 85). The fire’s light like a beacon hope, suddenly vanished along with his life. “It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death” (London 85). The man knew that his foolish mistake could possibly cost him
If he had paid adequate attention to his internal signals he may have survived.If the man did not believe his body, there were also several external signals to guide him. He mentioned the "old-timer at Sulphur Creek" many times. The experienced old-timer warned him of the danger of traveling alone. He didn't listen to the old-timer. The man spat, and it crackled before it hit the ground.
In the story, “To Build a FIre” by Jack London, the protagonist exhibits arrogance which proves to be a fatal mistake. The reader can see his arrogance after discovering this man is traveling alone in subzero weather. An older man had warned him of the dangers of traveling alone, yet the man decided he could take care of himself. After being in the cold for awhile the man reflected upon the old man’s warning: “The old timer on Sulphur Creek told him about it the previous fall, and now he was appreciating the advice.”
Jack London’s short story “To Build a Fire” is about a man’s battle to survive during a Yukon winter. The unnamed man has to accept that he isn’t greater than nature, and the setting Jack London created was the perfect example. Nature’s power is immense and will not be overpowered by men. Jack London used nature as the foreshadowing force to predict the man’s future.
“To Build a Fire” is a short story written by Jack London. It is viewed as a masterpiece of naturalist fiction. “To Build a Fire” features a miner who is traveling to the Yukon Territory with a dog as his companion. The miner is the protagonist and the dog companion is called the foil. The dog plays off of the traits of the protagonist. “The central motif of “To Build a Fire” concerns the struggle of man versus nature.” (Short Story Criticism) The most argued point in the short story is the reason of the protagonist death. “Some critics believe that it was his lack of intuition and imagination that lead to his death, while others say that he dies because of panic.” (Short Story Criticism) The protagonist in “To Build a Fire” struggles in
“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.
After further and cumulative study of the story, one may come to the conclusion that the man in the story has totally influenced reality both in his refusal to allow perceptions persuade him from his mission as he set out to it and also in his utter confidence in his own perceptions of his unique and higher judgment maintaining an overly optimistic outset in regards to his own abilities. One particularly dire incident began, “The man was shocked. It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death” (London 130). One can see by the word “shocked” that he clearly assumed nothing would go wrong, until it actually is done already.