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What the forshawdowing of to build a fire by jack london
How does the setting affect to build a fire by jack london
The theme of Jack London's To Build a Fire
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Jack London, an American author known for his thrilling adventure stories, showed the world that even an exciting story that takes place in exotic settings can include all the intricacies of great literature. This is seen in many of his stories with the implementation of symbolism, many times a recurring theme in his work. Also, London used many ideas of the day such as Darwinism and Spencerism in his writings in order to better portray his views. However, perhaps one of the most telling signs that London wrote good literature was through London's mastery of a rising literary movement known as naturalism.
As seen in multitude of London's works, symbolism plays a major role in his writings. One of London's greatest works of short fiction, "To Build a Fire" is a prime example of this inclusion of the literary technique that is so crucial in so many of London's greatest stories. In this story fire is a major symbol, symbolizing life in a world of cold, the freezing Klondike. This symbol helps London to show his belief that to survive in nature one needs nature. This is a recurring symbol/theme in London's work, also appearing in "Law of Life." Here, an old Native American must harness fire to survive the harshness of the wild. When the old man's fire finally expires, as happens in "To Build a Fire", so too does the old man's life (Hamilton ). Along with the use of fire as a symbol in many of his stories, London uses the symbolic canine in the majority of his stories, including "To Build a Fire", "Law of Life", Call of the Wild, and White Fang among many other stories. In all of these stories some sort of canine, whether dog or wolf, appears, becoming a motif in the works of Jack London. London often uses these charac...
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...rporated into his masterful works the element of literature known as naturalism and joined other great American authors such as Stephen Crane and Theodore Dreiser in the sphere of great naturalistic writers.
The author of such tales as White Fang and Call of the Wild, Jack London incorporated in his writings man facets of literature that proved that a story could be both exciting and thought provoking at the same time. This was achieved through numerous ways, such as the use of symbolism as a driving force behind the highly naturalistic stories that London produced. Also, the use of very different intellectual ideas, such as those of Herbert Spencer and Carl Jung helped to maintain London's belief that exotic stories could be great in the world of literature and have a place beside other great works such as Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
In conclusion, Jack London is most definitely not a nature faker since he does not give them human-like characteristics, has a vivid and crystal clear description, and doesn’t exaggerate . On that account, Jack London is a strong, believable writer who helps you picture the story and really live it. Furthermore, Jack London also describes everything and intelligently presents Buck in a good and attractive way. A smart writer is a writer that makes you want it, live it and love it, in which he definitely does. In the end, all people that doubt him are deeply mistaken as he is nowhere near a nature
John Steinbeck was perhaps the best author of all time. He was the winner of a Nobel Prize, and among other accomplishments, Steinbeck published nineteen novels and made many movies during his lifetime. All of his experience and knowledge are shown through his novels. A reader can tell, just in reading a novel by Steinbeck, that he had been through a lot throughout his life. Also, Steinbeck worked very hard to accomplish everything that he did during his lifetime. Nothing came very easily to him, and he had to earn everything he owned. This helped him in his writing, because he was able to write about real people and real experiences. John Steinbeck got his inspiration from life experiences, people he knew, and places he had gone.
Christopher McCandless had always admired the works of Jack London. He even went as far as naming Jack London “king”. McCandless relished the naturalisitc elements of London’s writings, elements that he chose to ignore in his own life. Jack London often depicted men as being controlled by their environment and being unable to withstand any heavy circumstances. He depicted themes about the frailty of man and man’s inability to overcome nature. But McCandless clearly did not take away any of the valuable lessons from these stories. He hailed London as “king” but never truly learned from London’s stories, dying in a tragically ironic way when he came to meet the same fate as the protagonist in Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”. Christopher McCandless
Fang the main character is a gray cub wolf. Wolves in this novels were used
Literature has played a large role in the way we perceive the world and it can affect the way in which we think about things. Edgar Allan Poe along with Mark Twain are two of the most influential authors that our world has ever seen. Their descriptiveness and diction has had a huge impact on their readers for centuries. Poe’s gothic style of writing was very enthralling and suspenseful; it left you wanting to know what was going to happen next. Whereas, Mark Twain was a very humorous author that intended to amuse all that read. The descriptiveness that was incorporated by these world-renown authors is tremendous.
Jack London writing technique influence his readers to consider Social Darwinist has an outlook on life. Merriam Webster’s explain Social Darwinist “to study of the human society, specifically a theory I human sociology that individuals or groups achieve advantages over others as the result of genetic or biological superiority. In class my classmates interpret it as “the survival of the fittest.” I agree with them, but I feel that you have to learn and gain from your mistakes. For example how could the strong survive without concurring adversity? London expresses it as, “And not only did he learn by experience, but instincts long dead becomes alive again. The domesticated generations fell from him. In vague ways he remembered back to the youth of the breed (page 40).
Instinct over intellect is the major theme in Fire, by London, and it is expressed mostly though the characters. There are two characters in this story, the man and the dog. The man is a symbol for intellect. He is always thinking about what he...
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."
Jack London’s To Build a Fire follows an unnamed protagonist, who’s only referred to as “the man”, as he travels the Yukon Trail during a severe snow storm. Along with his husky wolf-dog, he determined to meet friends at an old junction by six o’clock. The man, who was warned not travel in the Klondike alone, presses forward through the terrain’s harsh weather. He later falls through the snow in what looked to be a secure spot. With his feet and fingers soaked, he starts a fire and begins drying himself. The man constructs the fire under a spruce tree in order to take its twigs and drop them directly onto the fire. Each time he pulled a twig a branch overturned its load of snow, eventually blotting out the fire. He grabs all his matches and lights them simultaneously to set fire to a piece of bark; it soon goes out. The man decides to kill the dog and use its warm body to restore his circulation, but is unable to kill the animal and lets the dog go. The man attempts to run from the thought of freezing to death but he quickly falls down. He decides he should meet death in a more dignified manner; the man falls off into a calm sleep.
When Jack London wrote "To Build a Fire" he embraced the idea of naturalism because it mirrored the events of daily life. Naturalism showed how humans had to be wary at every corner because at anytime death could be there, waiting for them to make a mistake and forfeit their lives. He used naturalism, the most realistic literary movement, to show how violent and uncaring nature really is and how no matter what you do nature will always be there. London also presented the basic idea of Darwinism and the survival of the fittest, basically if you are dumb you will die. Collectively, London used naturalism to show how in life, humans can depend on nothing but themselves to survive. "To Build a Fire" is a short story that embodies the idea of naturalism and how, if one is not careful, nature will gain the upper hand and they will perish.
Jack London wrote the novel The Call of the Wild; it was also his first success (Feast). The Call of the Wild is an exciting beast fable which dramatizes the unforgiving harshness of existence but shows that suffering can lead to heroic self-awareness (Buckner). London was big on the philosophical idea of Naturalism. As well as having links with literary naturalism, "The Call of the Wild is also a mythical book informed throughout with such traditional myths as the Myth of the Hero." Although Buck is always a dog throughout the story, his predicament is highly relevant to the human condition in a novel beginning with concise patterns of description and moving toward an increasingly lyrical style (Williams). The protagonist of The Call of the Wild is a dog named Buck. He's part German Sheppard and half Saint Bernard, he's labeled the "hero" of the story. The story takes place primarily in the Klondike region of Alaska except for in the first chapter it takes place in the Santa Clara Valley of California. The story is centrally focused around Buck; if it wasn't for him not having any speaking parts the reader would think he was a human because of the personality traits he possesses. In this paper we will discuss traits such as Buck's ability to adapt, Buck's bravery, his mental and physical strength, his loyalty and love and his instinct of the wild.
Jack London brings man versus nature discussion into his story. The environment, however doesn't play against him for say, but does warn him from the very beginning. The audience can conclude that just like “the man” everyone is alone in the world - fighting for ourselves and the things we wish to acquire. The character created by London is isolated from the universe and fooli...
Pizer, Donald. Dictionary of Literary Biography Volume 12 : American Realists and Naturalists . Boston: The Gale Group, 1982.
Mark Twain is a one of the famous American author who set a milestone in American literature history. He used a humor and ironic elements in his book to portray the lesson to his readers. Also, he liked to satirize the social system and morality to educate the people. Therefore, in his three famous works, The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, The Mysterious Stranger, he satirized the human’s selfishness, evilness, and greediness.
Karen Rhodes analyzed to build a fire in a cultural context. He believed "London's works were written so that he could survive in a world he increasingly came to see as "red in tooth and claw""(1). It is obviously the story of a man fighting the stresses of Nature. According to Rhodes, to build a fire was drawn from the year London spent in Canada's Yukon Territory. London depicted arctic and very cold conditions throughout the story. Rhodes believed to build a fire represented London's Naturalistic Flavor. "It pits one man alone against the overwhelming forces of nature"(Karen Rhodes, 1). He also believed to build a fire can either be interpreted as the Pioneer American experience or can be read as an allegory for the journey of human existence (Karen Rhodes, 1). According to Rhodes, there are two versions of to build a fire; the first one was written in 1902 while the second one was written in 1908. We are studying the 1908 version." It has come to be known as everyman trekking through the Naturalistic Universe"(Karen Rhodes, 1). To build a fire is indeed the story of a man trekking through the universe alone except for his dog. The man's death at the end was the culmination of the story. " His death came through no lapse of observation, no lack of diligence, no real folly but the nature of himself and his environment" (Karen Rhodes, 2). I think his is a fine criticism of London's to build a fire. London had made use of his life experiences in writing the story.