Ignorance In Jack London's To Build A Fire

“In nil sapiendo vita iucundissima est” (“Sententiae”). This quote in Sententiae by Publilius Syrus, a former Syrian slave turned mime writer, the English translation reads: “In knowing nothing, life is very delightful”. This saying, known commonly as “ignorance is bliss” as coined by poet Thomas Gray in the 18th century, strongly influences people’s life today (“A Blissful, Timeless Exploration”). In simple terms, the idiom means that if one lacks knowledge of something, they should not worry about it. Even though the phrase seems to place ignorance in a positive light, it has a negative impact. By viewing ignorance as a good thing, people start to become oblivious to the world around them. They view thinking, learning, knowing, or experiencing

In response, the Naturalist writer Jack London explores the question in his work, “To Build a Fire”, through the themes of a man in conflict with himself, and a man in conflict against nature. Through the protagonist, known simply as “the man”, Jack London demonstrates how not accurately applying clear thinking, knowledge, or instinct in dangerous situations leads to a domino effect, where one catastrophic event leads to another, culminating in several life-or-death situations. In “To Build a Fire,” Jack London argues that a human’s ignorance to the forces of nature diminishes their perception of danger and death as seen through the man’s lack of forethought, the man’s close mindedness, and the comparison between the man and the dog’s instinct for

Throughout the story, the man makes several, critical, and fatal mistakes which eventually result in his death due to his blatant ignorance. His ignorance becomes so detrimental to the point where a dog, who has a severely less amount of sophisticated thinking, shockingly survives the harsh weather while he does not. This displays a main flaw only present in humans: selfishness, egotism, and narcissism. Even though humans see their endless capacity of knowledge and intelligence as beneficial, sometimes it becomes detrimental. Humans tend to be complacent with themselves because they control the world and have a sense of superiority over other species. This method of thinking, known as “rationalism”, causes people to come into conflict with others, but most importantly, themselves. Rationalism downplays and negates emotional responses and experiences in favor of reasoning and intelligence. This essentially steers people into a strife with each other, constantly deciding whether to let knowledge and reason, or emotions and experience dictate their choices, while compared to other species who act purely on instinct. Mankind needs to set their egotistical belief aside