To build a Fire

When the man realized that the dog would not let him come near he was forced to concoct another plan. His idea was that if he ran all the way to the camp, he would be able to survive. Unfortunately, that plan failed as well and the man perished in the cold, numbing snow of the Yukon. Overall, naturalism is the most realistic literary movement. It parallels life more than any other movement because it reveals the fact that nature has not heart and no emotions.

The old-timer warned the man about the harsh realities of the Klondike. The confident main character thinks of the old-timer at Sulphur Creek as "womanish." Along the trail, "the man" falls into a hidden spring and attempts to build a fire to dry his socks and warm himself. With his wet feet quickly growing numb, he realizes he has only one chance to successfully build a fire or face the harsh realities of the Yukon at one-hundred nine degrees below freezing. Falling snow from a tree blots out the fire and the character realizes "he had just heard his own sentence of death."

Unlike Fatty, the first dog to disappear, Frog was "no fool dog" and also the "strongest of the bunch." The men eat a very gloomy breakfast, harness the sled and repeat another day across the frozen Northland. After dinner, however, they decide to tie the dogs to stakes with leather straps to prevent another dog from running away to certain death. As they settle down for the evening the dogs become agitated and Bill and Henry look up to see the she-wolf wandering through the camp, eyeing the dogs. She is a decoy for the wolf pack, remarks Henry, luring the sled dogs away as food for the pack.

In the short story, “To Build a Fire” by Jack London shows how man vs. nature and how inexperienced traveler in the Yukon tries to travel alone with his dog, even though it’s advised not to. Yet he is stubborn and thinks he is right, and sets off for Henderson Creek to meet his friends. He faces many different conflicts of man verses man, and man verses nature. The traveler is advised not to make this trip with the lack of his inexperience in the Yukon due to the weather, the incoming storm, and its advisories. With the subzero freezing cold temperatures that came with the storm.

Use of Devices in London's To Build A Fire Jack London uses the devices of plot, setting, and characterization in this short story "To Build A Fire" to convey his message that humans need to be social. London sets an average, middle-aged logger in a deserted Yukon trail during a wintry season. The temperature is seventy-five degrees below zero and the logger and his husky are traveling towards Henderson Creek, about ten miles away, where the logger's companions are located. London places the man in this Yukon environment to symbolize that in this cold, cruel world, we need to learn how to benefit from each other. Prior to embarking on his journey, the logger is given advice from an old-timer at Sulfur Creek that "no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below".

"To Build a Fire" begins with an unnamed protagonist walking along a path in the Yukon in dangerously cold conditions. He is accompanied by a dog, and is trying to reach his friends. During his journey he breaks through ice covering running water, and gets wet up to his knees. Forced to build a fire by the combination of wetness and deadly cold, he is thwarted when snow falls from the tree above, putting out the fire. He cannot get it going again, as he is too cold and stiff to manage it.

Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” is a story about a man who travels only alongside a husky through the frigid conditions of the Yukon, and becomes a victim to Mother Nature. The man was warned before hand by an old man that he should not travel alone through the frigid Yukon. He ignored the old man’s advice and tried to prove to him that he would be able to cross the Yukon on his own. As the man traveled he was able to recognize the dangerous conditions around him and notice what it was doing to his extremities. Still he made no effort to slow down which resulted in his death.

To Build a Fire by Jack London The short story "To build a Fire" by Jack London, tells about the relationship between man and nature. The story takes place in the Yukon during one of the long night. The main character who is unnamed travels with a dog along a small trail to a mining camp. The man leaves against the advice of a local and after a short time realizes that he should have waited. The temperature is extremely cold because the mans spit freezes before it hits the ground.

He inevitably is caught by the fierce cold when he breaks through some ice and is wetted, in dire need of warmth and to dry his moccasins, the man must build a fire. Successful in his attempt, the man’s ego grows but the unforgiving antagonist of the story steps in and snuffs out the flames, as melted snow falls from the branches above. The man’s overconfidence starts to dwindle as his hands become unresponsive due to the extreme cold, and the cruel reality of death sets in as he fails to ignite another flame. As his limbs become rigid, he wrestles with the idea of killing the dog to thaw his unmoving hands, but once within his grasp, his frigid hands prevent him from drawing his knife. In a last ditch effort to not freeze to death the man begins to run in a panic, fighting the cold for his life.

In the first paragraph the man describes the weather and then his companion the dog also describes the weather. The dog actually goes into detail of how many degrees it is out for instance, “Fifty degrees below zero was to him just precisely fifty degrees below zero.” (1205) the dog even though it is his first winter he has a better sense than the man. Along the way in the story the man seems to ignore the weather as a factor for his troubles it causes him to travel for instance the man walks in the woods in search of the new camp on the way he falls in thin ice unde... ... middle of paper ... ...into a deep sleep as explained, “Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known.” (1214) from this quote the man went on for a run and in the end he just could not take the cold and his body just gave up. At last the man is a strong man and always tries to stay positive he encountered problems he would do whatever he could to solve the problem. The story many conflicts the man faces and the place he is traveling is causing mostly all his complications he having to travel.