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To Build A Fire Compare And Contrast

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Compare and Contrast
"Powder" v.s. "To Build a Fire"

"Powder" and "To Build a Fire" are stories that both put another being at risk because of selfishness. Each story involves extreme cold, snow, and danger. Each story also has a person in charge who puts another in an unsafe situation.

The son in "Powder" and the wolf dog in "To Build a Fire" both know the men with them are not making good decisions. In "Powder", the son knows he and his father will not get home in time for Christmas Eve dinner if they keep skiing, but he keeps skiing because that's what the dad wants. When they are finally ready to go home, a trooper tells them the road is closed. The dad puts the son in danger by driving on it anyhow. The wolf dog in "To Build a Fire" senses the danger of the extreme cold but continues to follow the man. In both stories, there are signs that the son and the dog are uncomfortable with what is happening. The boy was "fretting" and quiet. When asked a question, he shook his head and didn't reply with words. The dog walked "with his tail hanging low" inferring he was not happy. …show more content…

In "To Build a Fire", the man never speaks because "the ice held his lips so tightly together", but we're told he has repeated thoughts "that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold". He continues to walk, trying to make it to camp, with the unhappy dog behind him even when he should make a shelter or a fire to protect them both from the cold. The father in "Powder" talks about how good of a driver he is while driving on a closed road with his son. He ignores the troopers warning because he waited too long to stop skiing, and is worried his wife will not forgive him for breaking his

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Compare And Contrast Powder And To Build A Fire

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Was it The Lack of Instinct or Knowledge? In the short story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London the main charter has to use instinct and knowledge to get through the cold ridged Yukon. He is new to the land and as London writes, “The trouble with him was that he was without imagination,” and in the long run that is what hurt him (629). He thought he knows everything he needs to know about the land and how cold it was going to be; he thought his instincts would help him.

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