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Compare And Contrast To Build A Fire And The Cremation Of Sam Mcgee

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Throughout history man has had countless deadly interactions with nature, but man will never be able to defeat nature. In the literature by Jack London, the article, by University of Washington and Robert Service we can learn about some of the few times that man has lost against nature. In all of these stories the Man vs. Nature conflict is apparent to anyone reading these stories. In “To Build a Fire,” Klondike Gold Rush, and “The Cremation of Sam McGee” these writings have many similarities in its treatment of conflict as well as the differences. In all of these readings the weather is harsh and very cold. The weather is complete torture and extremely deadly. In the poem Sam McGee dies from being exposed to the cold for so long. As Sam McGee …show more content…

Out in the Yukon with sled dogs and his buddy , the narrator's friend is beginning to die due to the snow and extreme weather conditions. When the narrator is asked by Sam McGee to cremate him when he dies, the narrator is very hesitant to do so because that’s his friend and nobody wants to have to cremate their friend. Sam’s reasoning for this is because he has been cold and sick for so long that the thought of lying in a frozen-icy grave is too awful for him to think about. Sam would rather be in a warm hot place where his body can be in eternal warmth. Eventually Sam McGee dies and the narrator has to fulfil his friends dying wish, which is to cremate him. The narrator find a boat that has a furnace in it which he places Sam McGee’s body in. As he lights up the furnace and places coal into it, he feels so bad about burning his friend, but then again, it is his last dying wish. After Sam McGee is placed in the furnace and the narrator leaves he begins to feel a little lightheaded and feels sad about Sam, so he goes to check on him in the furnace. He can see the black smoke arising from the boat where the furnace is burning Sam’s body. By this point the cold has gotten to him to and is most likely going a little crazy. When he opens the furnace he sees Sam McGee sit up and ask him to close the door because it is nice and cold in there and he doesn’t want any cold getting in. By the end of the story the narrator sets off on his own but he starts feeling really tired and sweaty, which is unlikely to do in such

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