Compare To Build A Fire And Those Winter Sundays

735 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: A little learning poem analysis

There are one story and one poem called, ‘To build a Fire’ by London and ‘Those Winter Sundays’ by Hayden. It’s a term of whether those poems have eternal life, imagine life would be so beautiful and can imagine easily like a movie whereas stories do not. The stories limited the imagination. I disagree with it. So how can the story have in depth of envision and the poem does not have any length of creativity? Firstly, the short story called ‘To Build a Fire’ by London was based on a man with his dog were outside in the cold, alone in the dark with the fire only to hope that he could survive the night. “He pulled the mitten on hurriedly and stood up. He was a bit frightened.” (London, 391) The man stood up because he was frightened and cold. …show more content…

Next is the poem called, ‘Those Winter Sundays’ by Hayden was based on the story of a young boy wondering about his father as he worked on every Sundays to make sure the house was warm for him. “Sundays too my father got up early.” (Hayden, pg. 1047) this showed that the father got up early on every Sundays while the readers rest on Sundays, so they would think why they would get up early on a day off. Also, it wouldn’t make sense to work on Sundays. The reader couldn’t imagine working on Sundays; they’d rather have the day off than working. Additionally, the readers doesn’t quite understand why the boy’s father worked on Sunday when he could very well take a day off, so the readers doesn’t feel like the poem is working for them. “What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices?” (Hayden, pg. 1047) That form of question made the readers confused for a minute until they realized that he was thinking of his father and what made him who he is. The readers don’t understand fully of his experience because some of them may not have same feelings as he

Show More
Related

  • Wood Butcher by Norman Hindley, Behind Grandma's House by Gary Soto, and Manners by Elizabeth Bishop

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    Take note of how the father approached the mistakes made by his son. "I fouled up some screens once, …You broke them out with a chair" I feel showed the negative feeling I got when I read the poem. That also makes me believe that it was an apprenticeship. To me parents even if they get upset at something you do, don't go about things in that matter. The son was trying to learn something from his father and rather than explaining and showing the son how to do it correctly or the mistakes he made the father destroys the work. ...

    Read More

  • Poets’ Childhood Relationships with Their Fathers

    1491 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some poets see their father with a new found appreciation. For example, in Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays,” the narrator expresses his appreciation for his father when he poses the question: “What did I know, what did I know / of love’s austere and lonely offices?” (Hayden 13-14). As a child, it is hard to gain an appreciation for one’s father because one does not think about how much a father does for his child. When the speaker grows older, he reflects on his childhood and realizes how much his father has done for him. Everything that the father did for his son and family was done out of love, and the father did not gain any recognition at all. One example of the father helping his family is when he builds the fires to keep the household warm:

    Read More

  • Essay On Jack London's To Build A Fire

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”, an arrogant man sets off on the Yukon Trail with only a dog and minimal supplies. Even though, this is his first time actually experiencing the Alaskan winter he believes he is a veteran. He goes out expecting it to be fifty below, but soon realizes it is a lot colder. After he falls through an ice patch he is forced to build a fire in order to dry his moccasins off. He builds the fire under a tree which results in a snow pile to put out the fire. Now it is critical in building the second fire in order not to freeze to death. His hands and fingers were totally numb, but he was able to light the whole pack of matches. A large piece of wet plant landed in the fire, scattering the fire inevitable smothering

    Read More

  • Dear Sundays And Dear Momma

    1022 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the poem “Those Winter Sundays” the reader can conclude that the father battled his own personal demons. The speaker states that “slowly I would rise and dress fearing the chronic angers of the house.” (8-9) The farther may had trouble controlling his anger because “no one ever thanked him” (5). This in turn, placed distance between father and son. The speaker did not understand why his father was angry as a child. As the speaker says “what did I know, what did I know “(13) I can almost see the him shaking his head. It is as if the speaker were saying that he wished he did know, he wishes he would have said thank you, and realized how great his father truly

    Read More

  • Summary Of To Build A Fire

    345 Words  | 1 Pages

    In this story, “To build a fire”, there is a man who has many failures in life. The man was not prepared for the cold. Steven took food over clothes. His clothes were frozen and he used the fire to cook food. He made the mistake of not taking someone with him when he went on the trip. He made a lot of mistakes, in which led to his death.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Two Versions of To Build a Fire

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jack London has written a classic short story in the 1908 version of "To Build a Fire." This is the classic story of man fighting nature. In most genres (e.g. movies, novels, short stories) the main character comes out on top, however unlikely that is. Jack London takes literary naturalism and shows the reader how unmerciful nature is. Much like Stephen Crane in "The Open Boat," in which the one of the characters dies, London doesn't buy into that "has to have a good ending" contrivance. Through analysis of two London's letters (to R.W. Gilder and Cloudesly Johns) these two versions of "To Build a Fire" come alive with new meaning. Although there are many differences on the surface, both stories use his philosophy as expressed to Johns and both teach a moral lesson, one which will not soon be forgotten: "Never travel alone."

    Read More

  • To Build A Fire And Jack London's Literary Comparison

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    London’s uses the real hardships of the Alaskan wilderness to bring “To Build a Fire” to life. The story is a linear piece of literature that has little to no actual conversation, and demonstrates London’s descriptive talents as he describes the cold and unforgiving land. Thus, the reader of the story can quickly determine with all the foreshadowing that London’s story will not be a happy one. The man in this story can be described as arrogant of the dangers around him, and is unaware of his own frailty (London 596-605).

    Read More

  • Naturalism in Jack London's To Build a Fire

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    When the narrator introduced the main character of the story, the man, he made it clear that the man was in a perilous situation involving the elements. The man was faced with weather that was 75 degrees below zero and he was not physically or mentally prepared for survival. London wrote that the cold "did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man's frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold."(p.1745) At first when the man started his journey to the camp, he felt certain that he could make it back to camp before dinner. As the trip progressed, the man made mistake after mistake that sealed his fate. The man's first mistake was to step into a pool of water and soak his legs to the knees. This blunder forced the man to build a fire to dry his wet socks and shoes so his feet would not freeze and become frostbitten. When the man began to build a fire he failed to notice that he was doing so under a large, snow laden spruce tree where he was getting his firewood. When the man had a small fire that was beginning to smolder the disturbance to the tree caused the snow to tumble to the ground and extinguish the fire. "It was his own fault or, rather, his mistake. He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree. He should have built it in the open."(1750).

    Read More

  • Figurative Language In Those Winter Sundays

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    This gives the feeling that an adult is looking back upon his life. The closing lines especially give this feeling. The narrator says, “What did I know, what did I know/ of love’s austere and lonely offices?”(lines 13-14). It seems as though the narrator is looking back at his life in hindsight, and realizing that he did not know the different meanings of love as a child. The speaker may not have realized that his father had a different way of showing his love. It is obvious now that through his building of the fires in the early morning and his “polish[ing of the speaker’s] good shoes”(line 12) that the father was proving his

    Read More

  • Childhood In Robert Hayden's Those Winter Sundays

    402 Words  | 1 Pages

    Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” depicts a man remembering and examining his childhood. The speaker recalls how his father worked tirelessly despite receiving no recognition or appreciation. The father continued to labor everyday for his family because the strength of his love overpowered the despair of the thankless job that his son could not understand.

    Read More

  • A Speakers Reflections

    853 Words  | 2 Pages

    Robert Hayden’s poem “Those Winter Sundays” is a reflection the speaker has regarding his father. An analysis of the poem’s tone and language reveals the speaker regrets his father did so much for the family and “no one ever thanked him”. It is obvious the speaker feels regret for the way he behaved toward his father in the past by examining the phrases in the poem, particularly with the description of the father. The connotations of the language used in this description denote the father in a certain way that the speaker did not see him as before. The tone and feeling of regret or sorrow is evident in the poem not only through language and word choice on the literal surface, but also in the structure of the poem itself.

    Read More

  • Stephen Crane's The Open Boat and Jack London's To Build A Fire

    2312 Words  | 5 Pages

    In “To Build A Fire”, the main conflict throughout is man versus nature although it would be inaccurate to say that nature goes out of its way to assault the man. The fact of the matter is, nature would be just as cold without the man's presence regardless of him being there .The environment as a whole is completely indifferent to the man, as it frequently is in naturalist literature. The bitter environment does not aid him in any way, and it will not notice if he perishes. In the same way, the dog does not care about the man, only about itself. Ironically enough though, as the man was dying he was getting upset toward the dog because of its natural warmth, the instincts that it had, and its survival skills and those were the elements that the man lacked for survival. It is ironic that the man had to die in order to find out that man's fragile body cannot survive in nature's harsh elements, regardless of a human’s natural over-confidence and psychological strength.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Those Winter Sundays

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem these winter Sundays is a beautiful poem and the writer name is Robert Hayden and discuss father role in the poem. Poem looks simple if the analyzing deeply so understand that poem is complicated. The poem main theme is that discusses the father role and the child would worry because fearing the father of his behavior and strict toughness. In addition, the writer explains in various ways as positive or negative feeling writer about his father and the other one be a complaint about his father behavior. Choice of the word writer uses is not complicated so the essay is simple easy to read and understand (Hayden, 200).

    Read More

  • My Papa's Waltz, My Papa's Hat, Those Winter Sundays

    799 Words  | 2 Pages

    The mood of the poem, “Those Winter Sundays,” written by Robert Hayden is regretful. The poet describes a cold winter Sunday morning staying in bed until the house is warm. The poet expressed sympathy for his father who got up early on a cold Sunday morning...

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Blueblack Cold

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    When I read the first line the “too” seems to say that the speakers father got up early every day including Sunday. I think that most people sleep in on Sunday because it was a day of rest and only had to get up in time to go to church. The word “blueblack cold” makes me think that it was early morning before sunrise and possibly a cold and windy morning. I think that the speakers father is a hard working man who doesn't get much sleep. Then in lines 3-5 I found out that he is a hardworking man who isn't a bank teller or something cushy. He does intense physical labor and it is visible on his hands. He’s a tough guy and he makes the “banked fires blaze.” I think that he lights the fires in the fireplaces to warm up the house so that no one else in his family will have to get out of bed in the blueblack cold. The speaker ends the stanza by saying that no one ever told his father “thanks” for all that he did. The father is getting up early to warm the house for his family and no one ever said thank you. I am starting to feel like the speaker and the rest of his family are a bit ungra...

    Read More

More about Compare To Build A Fire And Those Winter Sundays

Open Document