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Jack London To Build A Fire Analysis

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The cold, hard ground of the Yukon have little effect on the mindset of one man hell bent on conquering it. Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” takes place in the freezing atmosphere of the Yukon where the unnamed protagonist attempts to reach a camp near a place called Henderson Creek. He fears nothing in the face of this extreme climate, unlike his canine companion, who is weary of travelling in such a cold place. Unwilling to heed its fears, or even the advice of a wise old man whom he met at Sulfur Creek, the man continues onward to hike for several hours in the hopes of reaching this camp. The weather grows colder, and the man starts to lose feeling in his hands and fingers. Events turn to disaster as quickly as the snow falls in the Yukon …show more content…

As a rough and burly man, he is also described as being "without imagination" (para. 3), or that “He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances" (para. 3). When given an endless amount of hints from the nature of the Yukon, the man ignores the significance of each one, thinking merely that it’s simply cold outside and not mortally dangerous in any way. He has the mindset to travel the Yukon in hopes of reaching a camp on Henderson Creek. A camp with warm fires, more than a mouthful to eat, and the companionship of his friends to await him. He recalls meeting a wise old man from Sulphur Creek a long time ago, the old man once told him that it was dangerous to travel alone in the Yukon given its frightening weather and whatnot. The old man is somewhat portrayed as the opposite of the protagonist, in the fact that he understands the underlying significance of what happens around him and takes it into consideration with his actions. Along with the old man from Sulphur Creek, the protagonist has a companion with him as he travels. His companion is described as a "big native husky, the proper wolf dog, gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental difference from its brother the wild wolf" (para. 6). This wolf dog companion is another representation of a knowing wisdom that is ignored by the protagonist, but it is also a representation of what the protagonist lacks in terms of what is needed to survive in his travels. The protagonist was warned that the temperatures of the Yukon could reach around negative seventy five degrees, but the dog does "not know anything about thermometers" (para. 6). Rather, the "brute [listens to] its instinct" (para. 6), which tells it not to travel on such a cold day. The protagonist does possess any form of these instincts, which is a clear

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At the end of the story though the main characters instincts are not strong enough and that is what ends up killing him. In reality he is unaware of the many things waiting ahead for him in that freezing forest. An elder man tried to tell him that it is dangerous to go alone

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The rain fell down in frigid sheets. Ira Whelan stood alone on the gelid deck that was once the Petersburg train station. Now all that remained of the once bustling establishment was the foundation of a prodigious building, and the sooty frozen planks that lay under him. It was winter in West Virginia, and it was the first one after the war’s end. If Ira would’ve had shoes, perhaps the cold weather wouldn’t have bothered him so considerably.

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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.

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In August 1992, a decomposed body, presumably died of starvation, was found inside an abandoned bus beside the Sushana River in Alaska. Shortly thereafter, the dead person was identified as twenty-four-year-old Chris McCandless, who was from an affluent family in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. A tragic story, with a mix of a young man, his well-off background, and happening in the most precarious but highly noble place, always had an emotional pull on people’s minds and stirred up people’s curiosity and perplexity. The question, often asked by the people with desire to grasp the truths, was why Chris with a privileged life would have gone to Alaska’s wilderness to face the ultimate challenge of his life. Was he in search of something

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The Dumbest Man Ever What would you do to stay warm in the klondike’s? In the book “To Build A Fire” by Jack London, the main character is unable to survive in the Klondike’s alone. The characters include the old man, the main character, and the main character’s dog 1.His first mistake was that he ignored others advice. 2. His second mistake is that he went in the coldest time of the year.

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Unfortunately for him, at the beginning of his journey, the cold did not bother The Man. He states, “it was cold and uncomfortable, and that was all…it did not lead him to consider his weaknesses as a creature affected by temperature” (London 2). The man knew it was extremely cold, but failed to recognize the intense gravity of his situation: he did not process it as a viable threat. Eventually, this lack of fear caused his unfortunate demise. As the story goes on, his environment begins to

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The story of Chris McCandless has become a pop culture phenomenon. Many are fascinated by his desire to abandon his family and society and “walk into the wild” (Krakauer 69).  Newscasts, magazine articles, movies, and books have tried to define what motivated him to give up everything for his Alaskan odyssey; however, the answers died with McCandless. People make assumptions about him without knowing his entire story.  McCandless chose to do the unconventional, making people think he was either foolish or brave and determined, but ultimately he was justified for doing what he did.

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The Alaskan Bush is one of the hardest places to survive without any assistance, supplies, skills, and little food. Jon Krakauer explains in his biography, Into The Wild, how Christopher McCandless ventured into the Alaskan Bush and ultimately perished due to lack of preparation and hubris. McCandless was an intelligent young man who made a few mistakes but overall Krakauer believed that McCandless was not an ignorant adrenalin junkie who had no respect for the land. Krakauer chose to write this biography because he too had the strong desire to discover and explore as he also ventured into the Alaskan Bush when he was a young man, but he survived unlike McCandless. Krakauer’s argument was convincing because he gives credible evidence that McCandless was not foolish like many critics say he was.

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The cold, however, does not disconcert the man. The omniscient narrator makes judgments about the man and his decisions. The narrator suggests to us that the “trouble” with the man is that he is “quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances,” (629). In other words, the man knows that it is cold and that he feels uncomfortable, but he does not think about his “frailty as a creature of temperature,” (629). The man does not acknowledge that he is tiny and weak compared to the natural world that surrounds him.

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Jack London has written numerous stories, many of which take place in the Yukon of Canada. The location of these stories plays a crucial part in the outcome of it all. He uses this location mainly due to his work he did there. After working in the Klondike of Alaska, London returned to his home and started to publish books. His characters were most often males with a sense of adventure.

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“The absence of sun from the sky, the tremendous cold, and the strangeness and weirdness of it all”- The Yukon is the perfect setting for this story. It is one of the few wild places left; reminding us of how small and inconsequential we truly are. A place that reminds us that you do not get a second chance and one misstep can mean your life. That you must be quick and alert, not only in the things of life but also the significances of them. In the best of times the Yukon is unforgiving, it is cruelest in winter.

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From this you can see that the man and dog share many different and similar thoughts on their journey through the Yukon Trail. The man and dog think differently in some situations like when the man or chechaquo(New comer) was trying to kill the dog. The man and dog also think similarly in other situations like, they both have the same idea of survival. For example, the man and dog both think the same about the fire. Therefore, the man and dog have different and similar thoughts while strugglings to get to the other side of camp were the boys

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To Build A Fire is a short tragic tale by Jack London that narrates about a man’s last days on the earth. The story’s protagonist is passing through the sub-freezing land of the Yukon when he becomes the victims of an unforgiving and harsh force of nature. Before embarking on the journey, the man is warned against walking alone on such severe weather conditions and even if his instincts also warn him, he decides to ignore all the signs and his conscience and to follow his ego. He makes several attempts to light a fire but does not make it. It is after several attempts that the man finally gives in to the forces of nature and awaits his now evident death.

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