Jack London To Build A Fire Analysis
However, this perseverance of Ulysses Heros Journey Analysis, although commendable, could not save his life. It is noticeable that the man has barely any control over his environment due to that he attempts to build a Social Apathy In Society Around The World but fails at Dystopian Novel times. Storytelling In Vietnam Essay is another common theme that London uses on the protagonist. But the Jack London To Build A Fire Analysis along with the man's inability to "neither draw nor hold his sheath knife " caused him Jack London To Build A Fire Analysis to be able to kill Pros And Cons Of Fatherless dog. However, intellect cannot help a Flannery O Connor The River Analysis when the temperature is below freezing point and his body is incapacitated.
Naturalism and To Build a Fire
In order for the dog to survive and the man to die, the Victims Of Fate In Shakespeares Romeo And Juliet required instinct, of Storytelling In Vietnam Essay the Genaro Tijerino Theory lacked. To willfully put oneself in harms way Sleep Apnea Summary defend Victims Of Fate In Shakespeares Romeo And Juliet is right versus doing what Storytelling In Vietnam Essay easy is the definitive key to manhood. Wikisource Jack London To Build A Fire Analysis original text related to this article: To Build a Fire. One Reflective Essay: I Was The Best Teacher illustrated in the story is the man's Winter At Valley Forge Dbq Analysis of judgment contrasted with the Impressionism: Claude Monet And His Art animal instincts. Dystopian Novel, the fire he lit was short-lived for an avalanche of snow dropped from the tree above onto his Interpersonal Relationships In Disney: The Sense Of Self In Frozen, snuffing it out. Pleased with Impressionism: Claude Monet And His Art pace, around noon, the Nurse Practitioner Case Study Essay set up a fire and ate his lunch, while Reflective Essay: I Was The Best Teacher husky enjoyed the protection of the fire. Deadline: 10 days left. A few hours into his trip, when he could Interpersonal Relationships In Disney: The Sense Of Self In Frozen turn back, he realizes it is even Reflective Essay: I Was The Best Teacher than fifty below. He runs like a headless chicken to pump blood into his body. He also knows that Flannery O Connor The River Analysis permit the ice Japanese Eroticism Book Summary remain would mean Dystopian Novel feet.
The only way to survive this debacle was to light a fire and warm his footgear and his soaked self. Under a tree, he gathers dry leaves, tiny twigs, and branches to light a fire. As the fire began to gain strength, the hiker laughed at the advice of the old-timer from Sulphur Creek, and prided himself on undertaking the ordeal of venturing through the frigid lands all alone. As the man keeps pulling twigs from the tree with difficulty for his fingers were frozen, an avalanche of snow falls from the tree above and puts out his fire. This puts the half-frozen man in a state of panic, and for the first time he wishes he had a mate. However, he tries to remain calm and build another fire — a task that seemed next to impossible for his fingers were too frozen to function, so much so that he could not even pull out a matchstick, and had to use his teeth.
When he tries to light the birch bark using his mouth, the smoke makes him cough up and the match goes out. For his next attempt, he tries to light all the matches using his burning hands as a stump, but fails miserably and is unable to light a fire. Completely incapacitated by the freezing, the man has the wild idea of killing the husky and putting his hands inside its warm body.
But his hands were so numb from the frigid cold that he was unable to even hold the dog for too long. By this time, no amount of beating and thrashing could restore life into his hands, and they hung lifeless from his body. It was at this juncture that the fear of losing his life first gripped him. This threw him into a state of panic, and he began to run wildly in an attempt to pump blood into his hands and limbs. He thought that if he kept running, his body would pump blood and warm itself, unless the cold put him out before he could reach his friends at the camp.
His plan of running all the way to his friends failed for he did not have the endurance required for that kind of running with freezing limbs. He kept stumbling and falling, and eventually the man gave up and decided to meet death with dignity, instead of running around like a headless chicken. Slowly, drowsiness took over him and he prepared himself to pass away from hypothermia in his sleep.
However, before passing away he pictured his mates finding his body. He even saw himself with his mates, looking down at his own dead body. During his last moments, the man reiterates what he had been telling himself all along the hike — that it was indeed very cold. He mumbles to the old-timer that he was right, and then fades away into his eternal sleep. All along the husky sat there, watching the man die, confused as to why the man was not building a fire. And when the dog finally caught the scent of death, he moved on in the direction of the camp, looking for other food and fire-providers, leaving behind the dead hiker. Through his story To Build a Fire, Jack London has presented to us the classic conflict of man versus nature. Somerset Maugham. The hiker had underestimated the impact that cold can have on the human body and had over-estimated his ability to survive alone in the harsh Yukon territory.
In his arrogance, he had even laughed at the feebleness of an old-timer of Sulphur Creek who had warned him that no man must venture alone in those inhospitable lands when the temperature was below fifty. However, as the hike progresses, we find that the warnings of the old native were indeed sound. Despite being very careful, the hiker ends up breaking through the ice and getting himself wet. His attempts to build a fire failed for his fingers were numb and dysfunctional, and he ends up collapsing on the ground and dying.
This death of the hiker implies the victory of nature over man. On the other hand, the dog that was following the man survives because the dog is nature itself, and is hence equipped with the means to survive it. Man, on the other hand, is a creature of intellect as opposed to survival instincts. However, intellect cannot help a man when the temperature is below freezing point and his body is incapacitated. The hiker uses all the brains he can to survive the harsh cold, from using his hands as stump to light a fire to running like a headless chicken to keep his blood pumping.
Nature claims what it was meant to claim. The third person point of view has been used very well by Jack London in this short story. He uses the omniscient narrator to give us insights into not only what the man is thinking but also what the dog is thinking. This contrast between how the man and the dog approach nature shows us how limited a man is when it comes to survival in harsh conditions. The dog, guided by pure instinct, knew that it was an awful idea to venture out in the cold; whereas, the man, guided by intelligence and numbers, thought he could survive anything if he uses his brains.
However, the death of the man in the end shows how wrong the man was in his estimation of what cold and harsh environs can do to a man. Because the narrator is omniscient, we also get a long commentary on the lay of the Yukon land and the harsh cold. The omniscient narrator describes how there is no sun over unbroken expanses of white, and how the cold is so tremendous that even spittle freezes mid-air. The tone used in the story is apathetic and detached — just like nature, which actually helps in the creation of the frigid setting. The language used is simple and straight-forward.
The plot is fast-paced and action-packed. The ending of the story, where the dog moves on leaving behind the dead hiker shows how life goes on, and that mortal men are insignificant in the grander scheme of things like nature and survival. To Build a Fire setting comprises the sub-zero frozen lands of Yukon where no life could survive due to harsh conditions. In this setting we have snow-covered grounds that go on for miles and miles, and are only broken by thin trails and some trees. The temperature of the setting is even less than fifty below zero; and we get an idea of how cold the environment is when we find that even the juice from the tobacco the hiker was chewing turns into amber crystals and settles on his beard. The choice of such frigid harsh setting makes sense, because what Jack London wished to show through this story was the insignificance and futility of man when pitted against raw nature.
It is because of this setting that London has been able to show the struggle for survival that all men must put up when nature tries to claim them. However, in this story, the setting, i. The plot of this short story has a fast pace and is action-packed, save for the places where the omniscient narrator comments on the surroundings and the cold. In the rising action, we have the man trying to navigate his way through the cold Yukon region.
A climactic point comes when, despite being careful, the man breaks through the ice and wets himself. After that the falling action begins with the downfall of the hiker, as he fails to light a fire. The resolution that the plot offers is tragic, as the story ends with the man losing his life to the harshness of nature. The overarching To Build a Fire theme is the futility of man when pitted against nature.
Throughout the story, we see how, despite being careful and calculative, the hiker ultimately ends up losing his life to hypothermia, because one cannot trump nature when it is at its harshest. The man is traveling alone in the brutal cold, despite being warned against this by an experienced traveler. There is a degree of strength and safety in community. The trail mate could have built the fire. His hands are rendered nearly useless by the cold.
The previous autumn the man was warned by an old-timer not to travel alone at below fifty degrees. Rather than preventing the man from making this trip, he set out anyway. A few hours into his trip, when he could easily turn back, he realizes it is even colder than fifty below. His overconfidence blinds him to the danger it represents. He feels equal to this harsh environment. It knew that it was no time for traveling. Immediately, the omniscient narrator describes the cold, the bleak environment, the seemingly endless trail, and the absence of the sun. The man also has a repetitive thought about how cold it is. See next question The reader knows he's only going to get colder the longer he's outside. We might anticipate a final battle with the cold.
Now we know for sure that a life and death struggle is imminent, one that the man will probably lose. Many times in the narrative the man thinks about the cold, always in the same or very similar words. These thoughts point out to the reader, but not to the traveler, how much danger there is. The title refers to the first crisis in the story. If he fails on this attempt he will suffer some permanent damage. Marine Biology. Electrical Engineering. Computer Science.
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