"To Build a Fire" by Jack London, tells a story of a man traveling alone with his dog (Husky dog) through the Yukon Valley to reunite with some friends of his. Him being a "new-comer", a "chechaquo," who ignores the advice from the Old Timer (the precautions of traveling in weather below 50 degrees and later during the journey recalls and wished he had not,) which London portrays his main character is being ignorant and underestimating nature in the end can end up in a tragedy. Miles before meeting his destination he finds himself in trouble, in which he is slowly but surely freezing and most likely will have to come to terms in dealing with his own death. Whether it is from oneself or nature, beings can only withstand so much and should be able to recognize their own limit.
In the beginning, London portrays the man (protagonist) as a smart but ignorant being: "He was quick and alert in the things in life, but not the significances." Stating that although he knew of the cause of things the effect of it was rather oblivious to him. The man (protagonist) is surprise over and over again how colder it is, but he does not realizes its implications and that makes him a static character. After his first fire on and he has his lunch everything is fine, then he laugh and think the Old Timer were "rather womanish," and so proud of himself, he thought "all a man had to do was keep his head, and he was right. Any man who was a man could travel alone" (London 804). Soon after the tree avalanche collapsed on his fire (by foolishly he build another fire under the spruce tree, after his feet get wet and freeze, cause the fire is off.) London writes "If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now," (a trail-mate would able to build another fire, like he has help the dog release the ice off its toes) and the "chechaquo" (protagonist) finds himself regretting the decision of traveling alone and admit that the Old Timer was right.
Response on Jack London's "To Build A Fire " After reading "To Build A Fire " I came to the conclusion that there are two main points that Jack London is trying to make. One is the mans knowledge with the environment, and the other is his relationship with the dog. The man was very ignorant to w...
"To Build a Fire" is a short story that has been written by Jack London. ... He decides to build a fire for warmth. ... Immediately he tries to build a fire again, but he fails due to frostbitten fingers. ... Internal and external conflicts of the story "To Build a Fire" are resolved in nature's favor. Jack London establishes the atmosphere of the setting in his writing that leads readers to understand the man causes his own death. ...
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. ... In reading "To Build a Fire," there were several things that intrigued me. ... I take away a lot from this amazing short story written by Jack London, but the message that stands out the most is slow down and listen, and it might pay off in the long run....
In "To Build a Fire," by Jack London, a man (who is only referred to as "man" in the story), ignores the warnings of weathered prospectors and travels alone, into the Yukon wilderness during a severely cold winter. ... (London) The combination of several reasons, such as the weather and environment, causes the death of the man. ... For instance, he should not have built the fire under the spruce tree. ... The trail-mate can build the fire for him. ... At the end of the story, he is unable to build a fire. ...
The story of "To build a Fire- by Jack London is about one mans lack of ability to survive under extremely harsh conditions. ... I felt that Jack London wrote it more like an instruction manual of survival than a story, as he repeatedly attempts to teach the reader survival techniques such as building fires, avoiding dangerous springs, and navigating a creek. ... This idea is also evident with Jack London's character development or the narrator. ... However, I believe that this was a secondary theme and all it did was give Jack London a forum to write his winter survival guide. I think ...
The story of "To build a Fire- by Jack London is about one mans lack of ability to survive under extremely harsh conditions. ... I felt that Jack London wrote it more like an instruction manual of survival than a story, as he repeatedly attempts to teach the reader survival techniques such as building fires, avoiding dangerous springs, and navigating a creek. ... This idea is also evident with Jack London's character development or the narrator. ... However, I believe that this was a secondary theme and all it did was give Jack London a forum to write his winter survival guide. I think ...
"To Build a Fire," by Jack London is about a man who is seeking to find his friends in the Yukon Territory in Alaska. ... The central idea of "To Build a Fire" is to think before you act and not to make impulse decisions. ... The dog is able to survive due to his instinct of biting the ice that formed in between his toes and other various intuitions, while the man builds a fire under a spruce tree whose branches are filled with snow. ... The point of view in Jack London's, "To Build a Fire," is told by a narrator who shares the ideas and thoughts of the man who is making is way throu...
Specifically, Jack London does an exceptional job of depicting the setting throughout the particular story "To Build a Fire" as if the setting is a character itself. Moreover, in "To Build a Fire," without setting there would be no story initially taking place. ... For instance, the opening line of "To Build a Fire" sets the setting and tone by stating "Day had broken cold and gray, exceedingly cold and gray" (London 127). ... Immediately in "To Build a Fire", a reader can easily speculate that the environment is essentially a predetermined fat...
In the story by Jack London, To Build a Fire, the main character learns a hard lesson of reality, when he meets his fate. ... By the end of his situation, any warmth, whether by the sleep of death or fire, was all the man could think about. ... When the time came to build a fire to survive the first accident in the water, his irresponsibility essentially cost him his life. He forgot to build a fire promptly after he got wet, which made it extremely difficult build one after it. ... In some situations, people have escaped their fate, but for the man in London's story, he was not as lucky, ...
