Warnings In Jack London's To Build A Fire

Nature is unpredictable, and is constantly throwing mankind curveballs, but when mankind chooses to ignore constant warnings nothing good can truly come from these bad decisions. One can interpret several different themes in Jack Londons’ short story “To Build a Fire.” Such themes could include being a hard-headed man who doesn’t listen to reason, or a man that shows great determination, despite his foolishness. Ultimately after reading this short story, the main theme that is constantly being explored in multiple stories by London would be the power in which nature deploys upon the characters. This particular story is a keen representation of Jack Londons writing style. A story about a man that ignores all warnings being thrown his way about the harsh conditions he will endure along his excursion through the Yukon.

The forces of nature are unable to be predicted, especially in an environment where someone has not familiarized themselves with. London explains how the forces of the environment are not in favor of the man who chooses to disregard the warnings that were given to him. At the beginning of the man’s journey he had been warned by the old man about the harsh winter months that the Yukon would offer those who travel through the wilderness. However, he chose to ignore the warnings and proceed on his endeavor of the Yukon. For example, “The man from Sulphur creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes gets in the country. And he had laughed at the time” (London 15). This suggests that he disregarded the warning as if he never received it in the first place, and let his pride get the best of him thinking he knew better than the old man. He described the old-timers to be womanish, and claim that any man who is a man could travel alone. Although he ended up