To Build a Fire Essay

Throughout history, man has learned to adapt to his surroundings and withstand nature's obstacles. The short story “To Build a Fire” is an example a natural movement that pictures that conflict of man vs. nature. Jack London used this quote the following to symbolize this “I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and

survive their deaths, however some end up passing on and are not able to turn their lives around. However, in the short story To Build a Fire by Jack London the man in the story does not survive his dance with death. In the story, the man, whom never gets a name, embarks on a very cold, very long journey to a mining camp. On his journey, he has to stop several times and build a fire in order to keep himself warm and keep himself going throughout his journey to the camp. He has a dog lead him, and then he

readers. This might discourage a student as they are trying to analyze the text. London makes the theme explicit in the text of, To Build a Fire. The setting is out in the cold, arctic weather. The main character in the story barely escaped freezing to death when he replenished himself with warmth, saying to himself that, “one must not be too sure of things,” (“To Build”). Through this, the reader does not even have to think about the theme since it is already in the text, and can now have a better

In the short story To Build a Fire shows a significant amount of realism. Realism is the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly. Realism is a very big part of the story To Build a Fire because of the many events that happened. The hiker never tries to act out of character. He does everything that is humanly possible. The man behaves in the ordinary way. His feelings and reactions represent reactions and thoughts of usual people. He

The main theme of London's "To Build a Fire," is man versus nature. The unnamed man wanders into the forest with a native dog hoping to make it out alive. Unfortunately the wrath of mother nature prevents him from getting any further leaving him dead. "The theme consists of a double movement - downward toward disintegration and death and upward toward reintegration and life, but life greatly enriched" (Peterson, 15). The theme in the story is in a downward shift. Throughout the entire story, everything

In Jack London's "To Build a Fire" we see a classic story of man against nature. In this story, however, nature wins. One reason that this is such a compelling and engrossing story is the vivid descriptions of the environment the nameless main character endures. Plot and characterization are brief, and the theme is simple. Yet this story is still a very popular story, and it has a mysterious quality that makes it great. Jack London starts early in the story to set a foreboding feeling: "Day

“To Build a Fire” by Jack London, is a story based on a human’s inability to overcome the forces of nature. The story’s theme surrounds perseverance, even in the presence of a foolish decision. The character’s determination to face freezing weather, no matter how hard things get, shows that no matter how hard things got for him, he wasn’t going to give up. As the story goes on, the story depicts the characters ultimate decision to give himself a meaningful death. When faced with the forces of nature

made the journey before making it. The traveller in Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” ignores any advice given to him by the wise man on how to survive the journey through the Yukon, he ignores any instinctual signs the dog shows off, and even ignores something simple as the weather and how cold the temperature must be. The traveller’s ignorance plays a key role in his death. London uses character development in “To Build a Fire” to imply that the man’s ignorance causes his

How Mood Intensifies the Story “To Build a Fire” The short story “To Build a Fire” has many moods that change throughout the story. There are three moods that really stand out and help to tell Jack London’s story. Jack London conveys these three key moods as gloominess, danger, and desperation in “To Build a Fire”. These moods help convey how hard it is to survive in Alaska's harsh environment. Gold prospectors like the one in this story tried to brave this climate just for the chance to find

In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” the main theme of the story is to listen to old timer’s advice. Although, this is not the only theme of the story. There are many sub-themes that help support the key point such as nature overpowering man, pride leading to disaster, and failure of imagination. These sub-themes help strengthen the major theme of the story to help the reader understand that listening to old timer’s advice is important. The man in the story seems to be always fighting an external