To Build A Fire Essay

Analysis of “To Build a Fire” “To Build a Fire”, written by Jack London and published in 1908, is a short story showing what happens when mankind tries to overcome nature. The theme of the story, survival’s connection to the story, and what the main character is fighting in the story are all topics to be addressed in this analytic essay. First and foremost, however, is the theme of “To Build a Fire”. The theme of this story appears to be mankind’s inability to overcome nature (The Editors of Encyclopǣdia Britannica, 2017). The ignorant man in the story has no name and is therefore representative of the ignorant human. He refuses sound advice and ultimately fails in his attempt to be better than nature. In this process, the man is struggling

Well, the temperature as recorded in the book was 75 below zero, which would require the man to make a fire whenever he and his dog stopped. The man was taking a scientific approach to the situation, so he was underestimating the natural world and only brought a few matches with nowhere near the necessary protection against the cold. The man thought he could make it, and he nearly did. Unfortunately his body started to freeze, beginning with his fingers, nose, and, after he fell in a puddle, his feet. His dog had also fallen in, and started to get ice on his paws, but bit it off, a sign that the dog knew more about the environment than his ignorant owner. As the man went on, he tried again to make a fire, but his hand failed him, resulting in him burning his hands and losing all hope of living, He eventually became desperate, his body slowly shutting down, and sees his dog is well equipped. In one final, desperate attempt the man grabbed the dog and had it in his mind to kill the animal in hopes that the warm carcass would be able to warm up his hands to be functional again. The only issue was that his hands weren’t functional, so the man could not grab his knife and kill his dog. He finally let go, and began to admit that he should’ve listened to the advice. The man forced himself to his feet and began running, not knowing if he was even going in the right direction towards his destination. He ultimately lost this battle, and