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Ignorance In Jack London's To Build A Fire

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Jack London’s To Build a Fire teaches how the wilderness is stubborn and unforgiving through the actions of the man, the struggle between the individual versus nature, and the symbolic structure of fire. Being prideful, unimaginative, and close minded can eventually lead to one’s downfall. The battle between the individual versus nature teaches that is it necessary to have respect for the earth in order to survive. The main image of fire, which is seen as a variety of objects, symbolizes life, death, hope, knowledge, and lack thereof. Too much self-confidence in a person has the ability to block them from thinking rationally.
Being prideful, unimaginative, and close minded can eventually lead to one’s downfall. Too much self-assurance generally does not lead to admirable or advantageous decisions. It prompts that specific person to make irrational choices. The man’s unimaginative personality masks him from understanding the significances his actions carry. During his travels The man’s “inability to imagine himself in danger from the cold”( Widdecombe) is directly correlated with his over-confidence. Being too overconfident has the potential to fog a person's judgment. It can create the sense that their is only one way or one solution. This narrow minded outlook will lead to missed opportunities or …show more content…

The conflict of the individual and nature shows how, in order to survive, we must achieve a certain level of respect for the wild. Life and death, hope, and knowledge are what the central image of fire is symbolic of. Knowledge is a necessity for us as humans to prosper. It is the key in every aspect of life. We must not fall into the ways of narrow-mindedness and arrogance if we wish to go on. Respect all things in life because one day that respect will pay off. Most of all, always remain hopeful even when times are dark. Hope has the ability to turn any situation into a positive

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The short story, To Build A Fire by Jack London demonstrates the man’s powerlessness compared to the forces of nature. It is the man’s ego that prompts him to challenge nature by embarking on the journey while he understands well that he will encounter the full wrath of extreme weather condition. Additionally, the man 's powerlessness is seen in the setting of the action, his lack of identity and the author 's depiction of the mightiness of nature. Besides, the protagonist effort to overcome nature is faced with equal efforts from the latter to defeat him as seen in his failure to light a fire. It is for these reasons that this paper maintains that the story, To Build A Fire by Jack London, is a true manifestation of the conflict between man and nature and which although the former initiate he losses to the latter in

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