A person's next move can affect them and someone in their life without them even realizing it. So why would they want to make the decision that could result in a sudden death in their family ? It is only right they be held accountable for the steps that lead up to or occurred after, they got entrapped in a life or death situation unless, it happens to be an accident.
In To Build a Fire the main character refused to listen to people that were more experienced than him. Like everyone else he was responsible for his actions, but instead of being able to overcome them , the situation he was in caused him to die before he could have been helped. But if things had turned out differently, and he didn’t die, someone, or a group of people would
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But even though you packed and then overpacked for a destination, something unexpected can always happen. In the story, The Voyage of the James Caird, Ernest Shackleton and his men could not have prepared more than they did for their ship to sink in the Arctic Circle. They piled aboard a lifeboat where they sailed to reach a whaling station but the journey was very hard on them. Their equipment just wasn’t enough to keep up with what the ocean was throwing at them. Worsley, one of the members on the boat with them wrote that their while their coats kept them warm against the wind, they did nothing against the freezing temperature of the water splashing on their backs every five seconds.
“We were getting soaked on an average every three or four minutes. This went on day and night. The cold was intense.” ( Page 182, paragraph 15 )
These men were able to make it out of their life or death situation alive and without the help of anyone else. It was long and hard on them but they managed to make it to Elephant Island where they would find a real ship to carry them the distance that they intended to go originally.
Many times, however, in a life or death situation, there isn’t a group of people working together like a family towards the goal of making it out
He is very unprepared because he doesn’t have enough equipment to finish his trip because it’s too cold. The traveler does not have proper clothing to keep him warm in the cold weather. ”The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost, and especially were its jowls, muzzle, and eyelashes whitened
Jerry Fensterman, in his essay "I See Why Others Choose to Die", talks about how he can understand why terminal ill people after so long in pain with no hope to cure choose to end their life sooner than expected. Fensterman, who was a dignose with cancer, says "I know now how a feeling, loving, rational person could choose death over life, could choose to relieve his suffering as well as that of his loved ones a few months earlier that would happen naturally." I agreed with the writers point of view, and I can also understand why someone would make this type of decisions. It is not only physically devastating for the whole family to go through this type of situations, but it could also be economically damaging, and not to mention the stress that is slowly draining everyone around.
... Macklin recalled “We could see our base, maddening, tantalizing, Shackleton at this time showed one of his sparks of real greatness. He did not rage at all, or show outwardly the slightest sign of disappointment, he told us simply and calmly that we must winter in the Pack, explained its dangers and possibilities: never lost his optimism and prepared for winter.” And because of this calm leadership and optimism he managed to get all of his men back home.
Suddenly, they noticed something was passing by them in a distance of a half a mile. ?We perceived a low carriage, fixed on a sledge and drawn by dogs, pass on towards the north.? It was very strange to see another human/carriage on ice. It was a shock to the crew to see a single man on sled drag by dogs through Northern Sea. Comparing to a well equipped ship, the sled looked like a deadly ride. As mentioned earlier you could only see the endless ice surrounding them and they couldn?t believe that a single man would travel far from the Big Land. However, the man on a sled was a gigantic stature and most likely he was a strong and a brave man.
The saga of the Endurance has relevant lessons for today?s leaders concerning the vital nature of team unity and interdependence, risk taking, optimism, and selfless leadership. Shackleton, known as ?The Boss? to his men, was at all times responsible for fostering and developing these dynamics, and thus provides an example of the remarkable achievements that are possible in even the direst of situations. The expedition failed in its attempt to be the first to transverse the Antarctic, yet the ultimate success is judged by the safe return of all the crewmembers.
Little did the brave (and potentially foolhardy) men of the era know at the time, but their Trans-Atlantic expeditions would...
Aron and Chris each prepared for their journeys in many different ways. Chris only brought with him the clothes on his back, a book for identifying plants, a sack of rice, some water, and a gun. For a trip that was going to be much longer then average Chris did not plan out his journey in Alaska wisely. He also unwisely refused to accept advice from locals regarding what he would need to be prepared for Alaskan wilderness. Walt McCandless said "Chris was good at almost everything he ever tried... which made him supremely overconfident". (Krakauer 118) Aron Ralston on the other hand was quite well acquainted with the rugged regions of Utah where his journey took place. Ralston took the ordinary day to day things he thought he would need for a day trip; a gallon sized CamelBak, another gallon of water in a canteen, a muffin, two burritos, and five chocolate bars. In some other ways Ralston was well prepared by bringing along climbing gear, a head lamp, a camera, batteries, and a Lea...
"I am absolutely confident that beyond the motif itself, there is no similarity of treatment whatever" (544). Jack London, writing in December 1908, was responding to an inquiry from the Richard W. Gilder, editor of Century Magazine. Gilder, having just published "To Build a Fire" in his magazine, was worried when he came across another version published 6 years earlier. London's explanation was that the first story was for boys and the new one was for men; the only similarity being the motif itself. Through careful analysis of the two stories, in light of this letter to Gilder, and another letter to Cloudesly Johns, it is apparent that although London claims no similarities (besides the motif), they definitely exist.
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.
When the narrator introduced the main character of the story, the man, he made it clear that the man was in a perilous situation involving the elements. The man was faced with weather that was 75 degrees below zero and he was not physically or mentally prepared for survival. London wrote that the cold "did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man's frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold."(p.1745) At first when the man started his journey to the camp, he felt certain that he could make it back to camp before dinner. As the trip progressed, the man made mistake after mistake that sealed his fate. The man's first mistake was to step into a pool of water and soak his legs to the knees. This blunder forced the man to build a fire to dry his wet socks and shoes so his feet would not freeze and become frostbitten. When the man began to build a fire he failed to notice that he was doing so under a large, snow laden spruce tree where he was getting his firewood. When the man had a small fire that was beginning to smolder the disturbance to the tree caused the snow to tumble to the ground and extinguish the fire. "It was his own fault or, rather, his mistake. He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree. He should have built it in the open."(1750).
The decision of euthanasia should not have to be made. No one has the right to say whether death should be inflicted on him or herself. That decision is left to someone of much higher power as it has been since the beginning of time. The patient may not be aware enough to make a sane decision. In this case, the decision would be left to the family. How would the family know whether the patient would want to live or die? No one has the right to judge that another person’s life is not worth living, and no one’s life should be taken because someone else thinks his or her quality of life is too low. There would be some cases in which family members would want the parent’s money instead of it being spent for hopeless medical treatment and request that the parent be put out of his or her misery. There have also been some cases in which the doctor performed the inhumane task without any form of consent (Katz).
Another man who made the mistake of traveling unprepared was Chris McCandless, Chris packed lightly, almost too lightly in fact that it would be another leading cause of his death. It may not be “what’s in your pack that separates the quick from the dead” (Gonzales), but it does not hurt to come prepared. Nobody is sorry they brought enough equipment, but people are sorry if they didn’t bring any. Neither of these men were successful, and maybe if they had been more equipped to handle their situations, they could have lived.
When Louie was stranded on the raft, he never let circumstance get the better of him. The three survivors, Louie, Phil, and Mac, all had completely differing perspectives of their trouble. Louie and Phil stayed optimistic, while Maxc slowly deteriorated along with his hope. Hillenbrand wrote that "It remains a mystery why these three young men, veterans of the same training and same crash, differed so radically in their perceptions of their plight. Maybe the difference was biological; some men may be wired for optimism, others for doubt... Perhaps the men's histories had given them opposing convictions about their capacity to overcome adversity... Though all three men faced the same hardship, their differing perceptions of it appeared to be shaping their fates. Louie and Phil's ...
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.
were able to make it to their destination were not met with the fulfi but with the feeling of