In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” the nameless man’s pride cost him his life. Throughout the story, the character exhibits many indications that there is a possibility of his demise. It begins with the character’s inability to ground himself to reality, he observed the events happening around him, but he does not fully grasp the impact they have on him. He is naïve and overconfident, believing he could survive on his own; he does not take advice from an experience man from that country.
The nameless man is unable to grasp at the events occurring around of him. He presents himself in a form of astral projection, removing his mind and senses from his physical body. During the course of the man’s journey, he demonstrates how he leaves his body and ignores the blistering cold against his exposed face. In the hazardous weather conditions the man is traveling in, he chews on tobacco throughout his trip. Upon spitting the “juice” it caused the man to have a crystal beard. He continues to “monotonously” chew tobacco; thus, enlarging the size of his “ice muzzle” but this does not faze him...
They say to “always be prepared for unexpected situations,” this represents the man in the short story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London. The man is unprepared because he does not
“Pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt”-Benjamin Franklin. When pride, a gained sense of importance, within a person reaches a point where one deludes oneself with a sense of infallibility, then any sense of consideration for others will be scorned. Similarly, in the book, The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, the narrator drags Doodle into the depths of his pride, ignoring any pleas for help, and left him to drown. Though the narrator showed some forms of love, he is undoubtedly and ultimately responsible for Doodle’s death because of the unrealistic expectations he sets upon his little brother.
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
The nameless narrator is a young black person, who attends his college regularly. He follows certain directions to lead a normal life. Yet, his life has to diverge from what it is as he makes a huge mistake, which can not be forgiven by the Headmaster, Dr. Bledsoe. Mr. Norton, one of the trustees, is chauffeured by the narrator and in the trip they take together, the narrator shows him the places, where the real life that blacks have is obvious. Raged at this, Dr. Bledsoe’s reaction towards the naïve narrator is harsh and he is sent away from the college. The events have key points to them in terms of how the characters choose to behave under certain conditions. These conditions are mostly related to honor and shame, pride and humiliation, ambition to take over and passivity.
The nameless character in Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison, is discovering himself throughout the novel. He’s on the search to figure out who he truly is in life. During this search, the narrator is constantly wondering about who he really is, evaluating the different identities and changing throughout the novel. He starts off as being a good student with a promising future to being just another poor black laborer in Harlem. Then from being a spokesperson for a powerful political group, the Brotherhood, and to being the "invisible man" which he realizes that he has always been. Through a long journey of self discovery, which comes with unexpected tragedy and loss, does he realize the depiction of himself and of how others perceived him had been backwards his entire life.
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."
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.
John Griffith London, who is considered by many to be America’s finest author, was born January 12, 1876 in San Francisco, California to an unmarried mother of a wealthy background, Flora Wellman. His father is thought to have been William Chaney, a Journalist, lawyer and major figure in the development of American Astrology. Because Flora was ill, an ex-slave, Virginia Prentiss, who would remain a major maternal influence during the boy’s childhood, raised Jack through infancy. Late in 1876, Flora married John London, a disabled Civil War veteran. The family moved to Oakland, where Jack completed grade school and would develop his love of the outdoors.
In Jack London's short story "To Build a Fire" the reader watches a man's mental condition go from high to devastatingly low. At the first of the story, he is very self confident in his own abilities. This is evident by the way he keeps saying the he will be in camp by six.
...ezing, cold weather. The two types of conflict in “The Open Boat” and “To Build a Fire” are: man vs. self and man v. nature which are common in naturalism literature. London uses naturalism to show how harsh and indifferent nature really is and how no matter what, nature will always be there. He furthermore presented the basic idea of Darwinism and the survival of the fittest, ultimately if you are not the strongest you will not survive. London showed us that we only can depend on ourselves to survive in this world or in the Yukon of Alaska. "To Build a Fire" illustrates that the closer to death the character comes, the plot declines. As the story advances, the man's ambitions go from making it to camp, to staying warm, to just simply surviving. When reading, you can sense the lack of effort on the man's part, only brings him closer to a freezing, unavoidable death.
Literature focuses on many aspects to form a coherent and captivating story, mainly those aspects retaining to characters and conflict. Within any story, a conflict arises for a character to overcome which drives the whole story. Conflict, the struggle against many forces of multiple varieties, creates the obstacle or issue a character must face to advance past the problem. In "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, conflict plays a major role in the story. The conflicts of man fighting against nature and man against himself present the struggles the unidentified man from "To Build a Fire" faces and attempts to overcome. These conflicts of man and nature influence the whole story and the fate of the character.
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...
The Importance of Setting in Jack London's To Build A Fire In "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, the setting plays a. significant role throughout the entire short story. Jack London uses techniques to establish the atmosphere of the story. By introducing his readers to the setting, prepares them for a tone that is. depressed and frightening. Isolated by an environment of frigid weather and doom, the author shows us how the main character of the story completely unaware of his surroundings.
Overconfidence and Arrogance in To Build a Fire by Jack London Overconfidence and arrogance led to the death of the man in Jack London's "To Build a Fire. " This overconfidence in his own abilities led to him making poor decisions and scorning the advice of those who know what they are talking about. Instead, he laughs at the old man after he tells him "a man should travel with a partner" (1769) and goes out into the frigid weather anyway.
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.