Common Sense And Instinct In Jack London's To Build A Fire

Every single piece of literature has a theme that can be learned from it, but every author differs in their way of showing it through the text. Jack London tells the tale of the death of an ignorant man traveling in Alaska’s extreme cold in “To Build a Fire”. The man’s tragic, but not unexpected, death portrays the theme of common sense and instinct being essential to survival. London shows his theme through the man’s own thoughts and actions, the man’s canine companion and the advice of the old timer from Sulphur Creek. The source of the main conflict in the story is the man’s need to build a fire after getting his leg soaked in sub zero water, and we can see the first way the theme is shown from his fall. The man was walking along a creek off the Yukon river, heading upstream for a potential gold mining spot, when he broke through the ice and submerged his leg. He quickly, but extremely carefully, starts to build a fire, as even he has the common sense to realize that he must quickly warm heat his leg. London states, “He knew he

The dog’s natural instincts warn that the dog needs to quickly find warmth and not be traveling in such cold, and the dog becomes hesitant and apprehensive as the man continues his final trek. London states that “The dog did not know anything about temperatures. Possibly in its brain there was no understanding of a condition of very cold, such as was in the man’s brain. But the animal sensed the danger. Its fear made it question eagerly every movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire. The dog had learned about fire, and it wanted fire. Otherwise, it would dig itself into the snow and find shelter from the cold air”. The dog’s instincts warned that it is too cold to be out and about, and must find warmth, either by fire or shelter. The man lacked these natural guidances, and died because of