ipl-logo

Literary Analysis: To Build A Fire By Jack London

1395 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: To build a fire by jack london english literature essay

Literary Analysis The short story To Build a Fire by Jack London is a story showing the determination of a man's desire to survive and his traveling mate his dog. During the story the man seems unworried about the cold and the frost that began to come across his body as he was going on his hike, however the dog who doesn't understand dangour can slowly start to show signs that something is going to happen. As the story begins to progress the man starts going into small panics after realizing his fingers froze and his ability to build a fire becomes non existent. The story is very similar to the popular movie Lone Survivor. The movie is about a group of elite U.S. seals that gets caught in a hell storm and the four men must fight against hundreds …show more content…

Seals had everything go their way as did the man in London’s book. They were able to find the camp of the Taliban soldiers and keep their distance out of sight until a small group of goat herders crossed their paths they couldn't prepare for this as the man couldn't prepare for himself breaking through the ice and getting wet. After each of these story changing points they were both in trouble. In the story To Build a Fire the man seemed cocky in his abilities to survive and that he didn't think he needed a mate to walk with, just like a character in the movie as did private Matt Axelson thought that no matter what he was the baddest guy on the planet and that there was no way the Taliban army could kill him. However they both seemed to accept their faiths of dying by knowing there was no longer any need to fight for their bodies could no longer take it. As their mind has pushed them as far as it possibly could. Even know they both ended up dying they both were able to do so kind of on their terms when the man in the story just layed down and thought to himself there are much worse ways of dying than in his sleep and when Private Matt had one last stand and was killed in an epic firefight that would buy his fellow members a little more time to run away from their death. This shows two men who knew it was over but wanted to make sure they had a small decision on how it would end for

Show More
Related
616 Words | 3 Pages

They stood in the light of the setting sun and awaited to be called true heros. Throughout the movie Shaw’s actions showed faith and equality to the men. In the final battle Shaw got of his captain's horse and fought with the men on the ground. Shaw showed his greatest transformation at his last battle;becoming a great leader powerful and inspiring music plays in the background adding to the drama and creating suspense for the upcoming battle but also symbolizing that. Shaw’s men’s views changed.

Read More
461 Words | 2 Pages

Howard Wasdin was beaten as a child by his stepfather and it made him want to pursue the dream of becoming a Navy seal. Becoming best of the best is not as easy as everyone thinks. Wasdin did not enjoy the long terrible training but as he said “My experiences weren’t always enjoyable, but they were always adrenaline-filled!” (Wasdin 97). The first couple of weeks in training are not that bad.

Read More
851 Words | 4 Pages

They now faced such a huge mental pressure, the thought of your comrade is going to die, just after the crew had just faced such a huge physical/mental assault

Read More
767 Words | 4 Pages

In the article, it states, “Steadily they went on with the work. Although every minute lost might mean another life lost, the men on the beach did not panic” (Heatter 2). This shows how the soldiers did not panic and were patient to wait for the little boats. This made them successful in reaching the boats. In the story, it points out, “With a last quick rush, the men turned and ran for the water” (Heatter 3).

Read More
417 Words | 2 Pages

"I say we make our deaths count for something" ( Evans 287) . Not only was this impervious group of friends loyal to each other, but to their beliefs too. Even if they did not live to see the glory and celebration of their win, they could die happy, as it was understood that what they fought for was

Read More
569 Words | 3 Pages

In the book, Fahrenheit 451 the author uses fire as a allusion and compares it a lot with the personalities of the main characters. I think the role of fire slightly changes from the beginning to the end of the novel. In the beginning, it was shown as a way of pleasure towards the mindless destruction they caused to people and the books that meant nothing to them. Which later changed to be seen as a possibility of a new beginning, like the old saying, “When a door closes, a window opens,” but in this case, the characters open that ‘window’ by burning their past. For instance, in the beginning of the novel the main character, Montag, clearly states, “It was a pleasure to burn.

Read More
798 Words | 4 Pages

In the book “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, fire is used throughout as a symbol of goodness and rebirth. Fire is one great example of symbolism in this book.. Each of us has our own image of fire burning within us, and depending on experiences, it could be positive or negative. Fire has a dual image in the book, a symbol of destruction, and a symbol of warmth. Bradbury’s use of symbolism throughout the novel makes the book moving and powerful by using symbolism to reinforce the ideas of anti censorship.

Read More
1152 Words | 5 Pages

Death is something that occurs often in a war due to the violence and dangerous areas. Everyone takes on the thought of someone dying in different ways, whether they maintained a close relationship with the person or not guilt could become an instant reaction of the persons' death because of a feeling of maybe being responsible for the death that occurred. The thought of maybe being responsible for one of the soldiers that you have spent day night serving with could leave an enormous amount of guilt in one person. When witnessing a death or anything traumatic it is easy to blame someone else or even yourself for the tragic accident. Multiple characters in the book The Things They Carried demonstrated the guilt and responsibility of another

Read More
813 Words | 4 Pages

Firstly, both of the authors’ stories end with the protagonists surviving the war, but making them feel regretful and unworthy of living. O’Brien survives after being a soldier during the

Read More
910 Words | 4 Pages

They knew they were soldiers, but they didn’t understand the true horrors that came with that title. And when they eventually did realize, they couldn’t leave. They could only continue to kill and destroy. “We had been fighting for over two years, and killing had become a daily activity. I felt no pity for anyone.

Read More
925 Words | 4 Pages

O’Brien writes, “You can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil” (76). Regardless of the changes within the narrations, the fact remains, that these soldiers are in the middle of battle and the emotion that follows differ for each person. As Kaplan states in his writing, “the most important thing is to be able to recognize and accept that events have no fixed and final meaning and that the only meaning that events can have is one that emerges momentarily and then shifts and changes each time that the events come alive as they are remembered or portrayed”

Read More
495 Words | 2 Pages

He shows how even the people risking their lives do not even care much for war and have become so numb to the horrors of their situation. The main character Fred Collins makes a journey through a death field risking his life for water that was then spilled by his comrades. While Fred was on his journey into the battle zone, “He wondered why he did not feel some keen agony of fear” and this is because he has become numbed to all the dead surrounding him. Meanwhile instead of being present in their state of being under attack, and put effort into their side of the war some of the men discuss “..the greatest questions of the national existence.” This showcases how even the men whose lives are at risk could care less about what is actually happening in the war around them.

Read More
738 Words | 3 Pages

In the story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London and the short film “To Build a Fire” Directed by David Cobham a man and dog were traveling through the Yukon trail because of the gold rush. While they were travling through the Yukon trail they ran into problems along the way. During the problems the man and dog thought differently and similarly. 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.

Read More
884 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
999 Words | 4 Pages

1.) Roughly how much of London 's story is devoted to describing the setting? What particular details make it memorable? In Jack London 's "To Build a Fire", he uses setting to allow the reader to experience the trip and how cold it is by very powerfully in showing/representing the mood and visual for the story.

Read More

More about Literary Analysis: To Build A Fire By Jack London

Related Topics

Open Document