To Build A Fire By Jack London Essay

In Jack London’s early version of the short story, “To Build a Fire,” the main idea is about an arrogant man who thought he was capable of traveling through a freezing 30 mile trail. It was a below sixty degree weather day and Tom Vincent, the main character, decides to meet his friends at a camp on Cherry Creek Divide. It is said to never travel alone in the outrageous weather but Vincent’s arrogance gets the best of him. On a miserable January day, Tom starts his 30 mile journey and quite enjoys it. He admires the silence and the impossibility that he would get lost because he was on a simple trail. He easily travels a good ten miles in fourteen hours, then another 5 in two hours. Then, he stops for a food break, proud of the mileage he covered. His over confident mind tells him that the

Tom is frustrated and unable to fully walk on his feet with ease. He needs to make a fire to warm himself up, so he uses his matches to build a warm little fire. He starts to thaw out his limbs until an unfortunate occurrence. The snow, hanging on the branches above him, falls down on him and the fire, blowing it out. Tom starts to become worried because of his fingers and body parts becoming numb and immobile. He wasn’t able to break twigs or find anything that would help him make another fire. Nature was beating Tom and he became desperate. Tom attempts to make a fire using his wrists and matches but failure was his only outcome. He tried to burn the flesh of his hands with a match, thinking it would help his hand, but he clumsily drops the match and it sizzles out. Panic was starting to build up and his mindset started to become more fixed. He ran and ran, worried and frightened of death. He stumbled along the path until he finally came upon a high-water lodgment. There were leaves, grasses, twigs, and branches all dry to use to create a fire. The cozy fire he built started to save him from death and becoming completely