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". The logger thinks this is "rather womanish" and
believes he can survive by himself. Along his journey, the man encounters
death as he falls into a spring, where "At a place where there were no
signs, where the soft, unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath,
the man broke through. It was not deep. He wet himself halfway up the
knees before he floundered out to the firm crust". Then the man builds a
fire beneath a tree and snow falls over it putting it out. London creates
these natural events in the plot to prove they are not the cause of the
man's death.
Using characterization, London is able to display on account of who
is alive at the end how one benefits from being social. The old-timer at
Sulfur Creek is alive because he is experienced and wise enough to benefit
from others' experiences that it is not wise to travel alone in the Yukon.
The boys at camp are also alive because they are together and can benefit
from each other. The logger's husky is alive because it is well-suited for
the Yukon environment, while the logger is not. Unlike the other
characters, London has the man die at the end of the story to display that
he dies because of his arrogance in his ability to travel alone.
David Clay Large, Between Two Fires: Europe's Path in the 1930s (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1990).
In Pemberton Park, about 30 years ago…exactly 30 years ago in a few weeks, actually, a young student got his heart broken. His girlfriend had loved him, or so it seemed, but…she found another guy. And the girl he had loved so much told him that their love was now dead. So he decided that he would be dead also. He walked to Pemberton Park and took a stroll along the lake, far away from everyone else, especially the girl who had hurt him. He was happy there, alone. But he dragged a heavy rope behind him anyway. He found a perfect tree above the bridge on the river. That night he hung himself out of hurt and hatred. But just as he jumped, he realized that he didn’t hate it there. He awoke the next day and saw a strange sight—his own body! He soon realized that he had died of sadness in a place of happiness, and he was destined to remain there the rest of his life, alone.
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.
In the case, “Facing a Fire” prepared by Ann Buchholtz, there are several problems and issues to identify in determining if Herman Singer should rebuild the factory due to a fire or retire on his insurance proceeds. I believe that this case is about social reform and self-interest. I think that Singer needs to ask himself, what is in the firm’s best economic interests. There are several things to question within this case, what should Herman Singer do and why, should he rebuild the factory or begin retirement, if he rebuilds, should he relocate the firm to an area where wages are lower and what provisions, if any, should Singer make for his employees as well as for the community?
As terrible as the Great Chicago Fire was to the city of Chicago back in 1871, the lessons learned from this disaster and the reconstruction that followed from the ashes and rubble actually helped turn Chicago into one of the great cities in the United States. This paper will examine what happened and why, what the leaders of Chicago learned from the experience, and how the will and spirit of the people of Chicago along with financial support from a sympathetic nation and beyond forever changed the city of Chicago for the better.
Though, think of a typical reaction to your father’s murder and the remarriage of your mother to a corrupt and greedy man who claims the title as your uncle; that is not an easy pill to swallow. Goddard even asks the question, “Is...
In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”, an unknown man is traveling alone in the extremely dangerous weather of seventy-five degrees below zero along Yukon Trail. Despite being warned about the dangers; he was bent on reaching his destination at the boy’s camp on Henderson Creek. Nevertheless, he tried many things to help keep his body warm but everything he tried failed. Close to death, he finally realized that it was impossible to survive this journey without a partner. The theme illustrates that sometimes it’s best to listen to others advice because everyone isn’t able to defeat nature.
Throughout recorded history, fires have been known to cause great loss of life, property, and knowledge. The Great Fire of London was easily one of the worst fires mankind has ever seen causing large scale destruction and terror. Samuel Pepys described the fire as “A most malicious bloody flame, as one entire arch of fire of above a mile long… the churches, houses and all on fire and flaming at once, and a horrid noise the flames made.” (Britain Express 1).
What Is a Success? Success is not earning a fat juicy check at the end of each month, or being part of a large social group filled with fraudulent people that appear as familiar faces. But it is a person discovering him or herself after they have been lost and establishing a sense of purpose that fills them with a warm, glowing sense of accomplishment. Success does not have one transparent definition, it has various meanings depending on what success means to the individual trying to achieve it. Success is surviving the loss.
A Fire Not Built “To Build a Fire”, a short story written by Jack London, is viewed as a masterpiece of naturalist fiction. “To Build a Fire” features a miner and his wolf-dog companion who are traveling in the Yukon Territory to meet fellow miners. The miner is the protagonist and the wolf-dog companion is the foil because the wolf-dog plays off of the traits of the protagonist. The central theme of “Building a Fire” concerns the struggle of man versus nature. “To Build a Fire” tells of a man traveling in the extreme cold through the Yukon Territory.
Altho somewhat similar the two stories are very different in many ways. The first story is called “Mystery of Heroism” by Stephen Crane and the other one is “To Build a Fire” by Jack London. Both of the books are part of the short story genre and realism stories. The author's purpose for writing the “Mystery of Heroism” is to tell a story about a brave man who went to get water for a dying man. The purpose for writing “To Build a Fire” is to tell about a man and his dog and how he tried to fight the below freezing temperatures to stay alive. Both authors use realism because they want to tell real stories about people and how they had to overcome struggles in their lifetime. These two stories have similarities but they are way more different than anything else. One of the stories is about a man who has to overcome fear to get water for a man.
In “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, the setting plays a significant role throughout the entire story. The chosen setting by London creates a specific and idealistic mood for his depressing story. It forces, as well as prepares, it’s audience to what the story holds. The amount of constant detail the story holds allows the reader to anticipate the ending that is inevitable to happen.
The story of ‘The Red Room’ by H.G. Wells is told to us in first
Do you have an escape route in case of a fire? If not, you should start working on one with your family. People can die because they don’t have an escape route. Here are some ways to get out of the house if it is on fire.
There are various schools of strategy that have been vigorously debated on and after a consolidated effort; three schools of strategy were produced. They are the planning school, the positional school, and the resource based school of strategy (Ritson, 2013). All these strategies will be described with examples to buttress each.