Comparing Call Of The Klondike And The Cremation Of Sam Mcgee

Jason Park

Mrs. Kelly

Language Arts, Period 3

22 February 2023

Literary Analysis: “Call of the Klondike” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee”

Imagine participating in the Klondike Gold Rush, in the harsh, cold regions of Canada. Experiencing this, Sam McGee’s best friend, referred to as “Cap,” had to cremate his friend as his last promise in the historical fiction poem, “The Cremation of Sam McGee.” Similar events happened to Stanley Pearce and Marshal Bond, watching gold rush expeditions return with tons of gold, and also having to lead a group of people through the Yukon region with a candlelight, the events taking place in “Call of the Klondike.” While “Call of the Klondike” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee” both demonstrate experiences taken

Service portrays two best friends in the gold rush, in which Sam McGee dies, and the story does not tell us whether Sam’s friend lives on to be successful or not. In “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” Robert W. Service states, “ He turned to me, and ‘Cap,’ says he, 'I’ll cash in this trip, I guess; / And if I do, I’m asking that you won’t refuse my last request,’” (Service 11-12) emphasizing the idea that Sam is dying, and wants to request his friend of something. Dissimilarly, in “Call of the Klondike,” the authors state, “Other stampedes are on very much the same order. This, however is the only midnight stampede on record. Quite a number regretted going to Swede creek on that trip. At least six men had their feet frozen, and two men died in the hospital from pneumonia. They were careless and did not take proper care of themselves…”(Meissner and Richardson 12). As shown by the text, this was what Stanley H. Pearce himself had said, conveying the idea that he had lived through the hard time and was able to make it out alive and successful. The historical fiction poem’s emphasis on Sam McGee’s death makes it seem more engaging for the

Differently, in “The Call of the Klondike” the authors focus on the general events of the Klondike Gold Rush, as described by Stanley Pearce and Marshall Bond. In “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” the author illustrates, “And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar; / And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and he said: ‘Please close that door. / It’s fine in here, but I greatly fear you’ll let in the cold and storm– / Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it’s the first time I’ve been warm.’”(Service 57-60). The cremation of Sam McGee, as stated by the author, Sam’s cremation was one of the main events in the story, the other events being Sam McGee’s death and his friend looking for a place to cremate