The short story “To Build a Fire” written by Jack London is a tale of an unnamed man’s quest through the rough and rugged tundra of the Yukon on his way to Henderson Creek where he is to meet up with the “boys”. It is assumed that they are in search of gold but their intended purpose in the Yukon is never mentioned in the story. The weather is very frigid in the Yukon and the temperature is reported to be 75 below zero. The man is advised not to travel alone in these conditions by a native elder
Reyes American Literature Dr. Fitzgerald 10/20/14 Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”: Nature’s Cold Shoulder The winter’s cold weather proved too much to bear for our young protagonist. His qualities make him an undeserving character (though his self-assurance proves him a formidable opponent). In the wilderness, every move is critical. Survival can only be achieved by making rational decisions and using every instinct. In Jack London's “To Build a Fire,” nature appears harsh and unforgiving as the man
In “To Build a Fire” by Jack London is about a man who is making his way through the powdery snow in Alaska. The temperature is in the negatives and it is extremely cold out. He wasn’t really too worried about the cold or how dark it was outside because he is new to the place. Alaska considers him as a new comer. He spit in the air and saw that his spit was frozen before it hit the ground. He made the assumption that it must be at least negative fifty degrees. He is making his way to a place called
Have you ever heard someone say they’re book smart or street smart? In “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, this expression can make you think what is really more important to have. Jack London’s literary styles are ones that define his stories. London’s literary techniques are shown through the conflicts, symbols, irony, and how the story is an interesting and powerful story. The story begins with a man and his one companion, a dog, is set out into the Yukon Territory to find gold. The man strays off
influences was a great writer, Jack London. Chris always admired London’s famous stories and referred to him as one of his greatest influences. London’s one of the most famous short story was “To Build a Fire” which had a similar concept with John Krakauer’s fictional story, “Into the Wild.” The story basically talks about the fictional adventure of Chris McCandless. Both stories have much the same protagonists who share similar characteristics. “Into the Wild” and “To build a fire” protagonists allocate
environmental forces which he has no control or full understand. It is best described as “survival of the fittest.” Both Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” and Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” are great examples of naturalism. Even though both have quite a bit of similarities, each have their own differences as nature attacks the characters in each story. In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” a man is fighting the elements on his own, without another person’s help and guidance unlike in Stephen Cranes “The
reality” or “verisimilitude.” In the short story To Build a Fire by Jack London, the romantic ideal that is being countered by the reality is nature. As a realist writer, Jack London shows in the short story how in reality nature does not care for people and how it can kill a man easily. To show how romanticism is portrayed in nature, two sources were chosen to prove the existence of a 19th century romantic ideal that is being debunked by the London’s realist point of view. The primary source is a poem
"To Build a Fire" has a more accurate depiction of nature compared to "Leiningen Versus the Ants." In "Leiningen Versus the Ants!" by Carl Stephenson, ants represent nature, beings each described as, "An elemental(and)--an 'act of God." (Stephenson, Pg.1) These ants are ambassadors of nature which to Stephenson, means a threat to humanity and its goals. This belief implies that nature is plotting mankind's downfall, and that man must defeat nature. The author also incorporates the theme of humanity
cold weather. While on his way, he gets his feet wet and the climax starts when he failed to build a fire and realized that there is no way out. He finally accepts his fate and sleeps peacefully. This final action or resolving action is when the man freezes to death. The cold weather and nature were against him. Even the tree he build the fire under, betrayed him. Snow fell off the tree and putting the fire off. (AOU Course book, The Short Story & Essay Writing, p. 27-28) Finally, any short story
be very stupid. In this case London is the stupid guy in the short story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London. One mistake people do instead of concentrate is panic and once you panic you can’t think as straight so you start to give up and lose like London. The character in nature has to be ready for everything nature wants to throw at them, characters have to be prepared and use their brain to get through things. Jack London’s short story was an example of a stupid human. London took a dog with him to