After reading "To Build a Fire," by Jack London, I sat still for a few minutes reminiscing about things that I was told in my youth. One of them was my parents telling me to simply slow down and listen. Growing up just like every young boy, I was always in a rush. I rushed through everything so I could get to the fun stuff. I rushed through my work so I can be the first on the playground. I rushed through dinner so I can get a couple extra minutes of television. I rushed when my parents gave me a task to complete. In rushing through everything, I often came up short or had some consequence. When rushing through dinner I got stomach aches, or got a bad grade on my assignments because I didn't take my time reading directions. When we as people rush, something always gets left unfulfilled and we often don't hear the good advice given to us until we are in a situation that we now have to slow down and think our way out of. .
The Man in this short story did what many of us young men do, which is not slow down and listen. The Man was sharply determined on meeting The Boys before to six o'clock to strike it rich at the Yukon gold rush. He was determined to get there, even though nature did not permit this. His mere determination brought ignorance in the face of great danger. In his determination he ignored the best advice that he could have. When he rushed and ignored the voice of the Wise-man he suffered the consequences. The weather was too extreme for anyone to be in especially someone who was as unprepared as The Man. The Man's saliva was frozen before it hit the ground, this gave me a clear example of the extreme conditions. .
In reading "To Build a Fire," there were several things that intrigued me. Firstly, I noted The Man's amorality. Wikipedia defines amorality as an absence of, indifference towards, or disregard for morality. The Man had no regard for himself or the dog.
