...To Build a Fire Jack London expresses the unforgiving conditions of nature by writing of a man who is roaming through the Yukon, with no company but a dog, and how in the end his stubbornness and Mother Nature’s brute weather conditions and nature’s inability to care for the man ultimately lead to his demise. The main character experiences nature’s brutal weather and freezing temperatures, along with hidden springs waiting to be stepped in. Alongside the main character is a husky who journeys with him, the canine uses his instincts throughout the trip, which inevitably cause the dog to live longer than the stubborn man. Nature’s harsh and unforgiving conditions play a major role in the death of the man, but nature did not just decide “I do not like...
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...Jack London, the author of “To Build A Fire,” uses scientific realism in his writing, which was influenced by European writers during the nineteenth century. Emile Zola heavily influenced Jack London for his short story, “To Build A Fire.” Zola explains the meaning of reality through the use of scientific determinism. Jack London worked in the Klondike, Yukon, which inspired him to write not only “To Build A Fire,” but also “The Call of the Wild,” “Martin Eden,” and “White Fang.” Survival plays a major role in “To Build A Fire,” as Jack London tells the story of an inexperienced young man versus extreme weather conditions in the Klondike, Yukon. In “To Build A Fire” by Jack London, there is a continuous conflict of man versus nature, in which...
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...Concept of Naturalism in “To Build a Fire” In literature, naturalism has some fundamental characteristics. The plot involves man against nature and the burden of survival requires either adaptation or destruction of the characters involved. In this style of writing, nature or the natural world is continuously pushing man to his limits. When man heeds the warning signs, he may conquer it. But, when he ignores these warnings, it will defeat him. Naturalism is a general understanding of reality and humanity’s place with reality. It mirrors the events of daily life and shows how humans have to be careful when dealing with the natural world. In naturalism, nature is always waiting for man to make a mistake. Jack London in “To Build a Fire” focuses on the idea that nature is indifferent to man. He shows how violent and uncaring nature is. This short story features an unnamed man and his dog venturing into the Alaskan wilderness in the middle of winter. “To Build a Fire” is a short story that illustrates the concept of naturalism and how the natural world, which is dangerous, will gain the upper hand and man will perish. In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”, the narrator makes it clear that the “unnamed” man is in a dangerous situation with the elements. The man is facing weather seventy-five degrees below zero and he is not prepared to survive. Jack London writes that the cold, “did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man’s frailty...
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...literature. Naturalism is where the character in a story are caught in the forces of nature, and they have no control of their situation. Both Stephen Crane and Jack London did a great job with their short stories when portraying the writing style of naturalism. “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane four men are on a boat when bad weather approaches them. They have to work together in order to survive this. In “To Build a Fire” by Jack London a man is at war with everything that the nature is putting in his path. He has no control at what is being thrown at him. The short story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London is about a man trying to escape death. The man is in Alaska, and decides to go on a walk with his dog. He is new to the area, and does not understand how bad the conditions really are. The man is supposed to meet up with a few friends at six o’clock. It starts getting colder, and the conditions are starting to worsen. The man falls down, and the snow gets him wet all the way up to his knees. So, he starts a fire to dry himself off, but the ice falls from a tree and kills the fire. He is not able to build another fire. By this point he is beginning to become frostbitten. He has a plan to kill his dog, and stuff his hands inside the dog to rebuild his circulation, but he just cannot do it. “To Build a Fire” by Jack London is a great example of naturalism. The environment in this story is a very important factor. There were many statements that he made that showed the environment...
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...so many people and lived a very full life which is incredible because what he did would take any normal person years to get the courage of doing what he did. Even though Chris was somewhat of a free spirit he had a deep sense of friendship and he cherished the friends that he meet. Chris’s intention to go into the wild was not only a way to prove himself but it was a test to his belief that all of his traveling was a way of finding who he was, and to find out if he could use his skills that he had learned. the books that he read certainly led to him thinking that he could live in the Alaskan wilderness. Chris was a well read person and his favorite books where that of writer jack London. Jack London wrote about life and surviving in the alaskan frontier with books like call of the wild or to build a fire. Many people have suspensions of why chris went into the wild, but a lot of evidence point to that he was influenced by his personal belief that he had to be the best in everything. a quote from the book into the wild that proves this is “ Chris had so much natural talent”(pg111) this quote was said by his father that chris was do his best to learn...
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...Abstract This essay is a literary analysis of Jack London’s “To Build a Fire.” Jack London has set before us a story of survival and pride. Although the main theme of man against nature is very clear to the reader, it is through the eyes of the traveler and the thoughts of the dog traveling that with him that we begin to see just how frail humans are. The newcomer to the Yukon is ill prepared for what lays before him. Never Travel Alone Jack London “To Build a Fire” There is a thin line between life and death. Our own fate truly lies in our own hands. We can choose to close our eyes and blindly push forward or open our eyes and see the dangers that lie ahead. Our traveler in this story blindly pushed forward. A newcomer to the Yukon, he was headed to a camp about ten hours away by foot to meet the “boys”. “Day had broken cold and gray, exceedingly cold and gray” (p. 518). This was the first warning our traveler ignored. A foreshadowing of what is to come. In the deep of the winter where the days are extremely cold, an old-timer to the Yukon warned the man, never travel alone and to never travel when the temperature was fifty degrees below zero. The man thinking he knew more than the old-timer chose to ignore the danger, his mind empty of all but one thought - reaching the camp by 6pm. Spitting into the air his spittle froze and cracked before hitting the ground, a clear sign that the temperature was much colder than fifty degrees below zero. ...
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...‘To Build a Fire” Jack London’s short story, “To Build a Fire,” takes place during a harsh winter in the forest of Alaska. This story is about a courageous but stubborn man who decides to confront the mighty forces of nature. This man takes a journey that not many would have taken, with a husky dog as his only companion. As he travels through the rough landscape of Alaska, he faces many natural obstacles. Facing these barriers make him more aware about reality about challenging the forces of nature, a challenge that in many times becomes a matter of life or death. Throughout the story the main character is not given a name, he is simply known as the “Man.” A hardheaded newcomer to the coniferous forest of Alaska; a man who thinks he knows it all, but is about to come in contact with the worst weather he has ever had to face. The man’s lack of experience led him to his downfall. As his journey began he went into the trail not well prepared, because of the low temperatures a face mask was well needed and he did not bother to wear one. “He does not recognize that man is so finial that the bitterly cold Alaskan inevitably destroys the individual” (McClintock 355). The man had trouble understanding that Nature was something that can never be fought against, but still his machismo personality set in and he was not going to back down from it. Fifty degrees below zero meant nothing to him, he knew it was going to be cold and uncomfortable, and that was it. It did not lead him to...
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...stories ‘To Build a Fire,’ written by Jack London, and ‘The Dark Brown Dog,’ written by Stephan Crane, both writers use ‘dog’ to portray the nature of human when they face a limit of civilization. These portrayals express naturalism clearly by applying characters’ relationship to their surroundings. To begin with, both stories show how savage-like their main characters become through the dog. In the case of ‘To Build a Fire,’ the man at first thinks of the dog as a company. However, as the man involves in a desperate situation, really dying of the cold, he thinks of dissecting the dog to use it for warmth. This type of action would have never happened if the man was set in a civilized background, but such desperate measure influence the man to take animalistic approaches. Similarly, in ‘The Dark Brown Dog,’ the dog by being reticent shows the violence of human. Not only the child, but the family as a whole beats the dog just because of their mere sudden emotions. One thing to keep in mind about this story is that the family is a part of the lower society, where there exists a lack of civilization, in terms of sophisticated minds. Comparing these two stories, I could tell both writers showed all humans have an inner potential of violence when in uncivilized conditions. Although it is true that both stories fundamentally depict naturalism in their stories, there exist many differences between the two. The most fundamental difference is that ‘To Build a Fire’ shows how a man...
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...in big trouble. In the following paragraphs you will read about a story written in 1910 and how it compares to today’s animal cruelty in the food production industry. Jack London wrote a short story about pure foolishness and the consequences of failing to snap to reality. The story is called “To Build a Fire”. It is about a nameless man who decides to travel in the subzero climate of the Yukon Trail, which is between Alaska and Canada. He also brings along his wolf dog as his only companion, although they are far from intimate and loving towards each other. As he is traveling along throughout the story, he continues to receive signs that he shouldn’t be out there. For example, right from the start he “…spat again. And again, in the air, before it could fall to the snow, the spittle crackled” (London 107). For any rational person, that would send a flag right up and they’d turn back to civilization until weather permitted them to continue. But not for this man, he knew it was cold and even kept track of the temperature in his head as he walked on. Not only did he ignore his own frostbite, but he also ignored the advice of an old timer who told him he shouldn’t go and if he went, he shouldn’t go alone. But hey, he is a man and men can do anything and everything they put their mind to right? Wrong! Sooner or later his lack of reason led him to fall through the ice and then build a fire under a giant spruce tree covered in a heavy layer of snow. He admits that it was “…easier to...
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...someone is selfish usually all they think about is themselves. In Jack London’s short story “ To Build a Fire,” the main point is how people act stubborn,selfish, and want things to go their way. In the story “ To Build a Fire,” the character “the guy” wants to go hiking on the yukon trail. The temperature was negative fifty degrees which is deadly if you don’t have the right equipment. The guy was accompanied by his dog on his hike. The temperature was cold to the...
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...There are many stories about freezing to death and what the frosty, harsh wilderness can do a person's body but in this paper, we are going to talk about 2 stories with 2 different men that just demonstrate how fragile our bodies really are when put into such conditions.One story called “ To Build a Fire” by Jack London is fictional but seems like it actually happened when reading it. It's about an unnamed man in the Yukon wilderness. Another story called “ The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death” happened to someone in real life named Peter Shark and was published in Outside Magazine. There are many similarities between these 2 stories, but I am just going to write about a couple. First of all, both men were deep in the wilderness noting the time and knowing somewhat of how cold it was. In addition to that, people were expecting them to be a certain place at a certain time whether it may be a moonlight skiing adventure with friends for Peter or to get back to the boys at camp for the man in TBAF(To Build a Fire). Also, they had been warned about how going out in the cold was foolish and unsafe, but despite that, they did it anyway. So when people like an old timer or a guy...
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...jelly it was revealed that acid rain may be causing lakes in eastern Canada to turn to jelly and trouble the fish life which made it hard to fishers to make a living. In the book excerpt “ Countdown Acid”, it was recorded that normal rain also holds very small amounts of acid particles in it, but none that can harm or damage anything. The story “ To build a fire” by Jack London from Literature for composition, London discusses that modern needs for man had turned humans into selfish people taking advantage of nature. The story “Butterflies” by Patricia Grace from Literature for Composition, Grace displays a message that we don’t really know what really happens to animals or nature until we experience it happen. The article “Now or Never” by Bill McKibben from Literature for Composition, McGibben emphasizes that global warming is getting stronger when carbon dioxide or other gases are emitted into the atmosphere. Conclusion: I believe it is literally impossible to control acid rain if addressed to the public, the only way to maybe stop it is if we can convince the public to force political figures to take actions to control how wastes are released by industries. Acid rain is one of the most dangerous...
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...accustomed to. For right now, don't worry. Just try to get it all in there. We may talk about splitting the thesis into two sentences later on. The samples on "A&P" followed this pattern. 9 Steps to Writing on a Literacy Topic (LINK) Assignment One page with thesis and evidence on any story from week 2 or week 3 of the syllabus - If you are up for the challenge I am adding a musical performance to the list of options. "The greatest live act in show business" is how Sam & Dave were described - you will recognize their music - a recent story in the New York Times describes the DVD recently released of the performance captured here. I am linking you to YouTube for the clip, rather than streaming, due to copyright issues. But remember, this will be graded based on how closely it follows the pattern illustrated in...
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...dropped off in the middle of the forest on Vancouver Island how likely would they be to survive? Some may say that it depends on how strong they are, how smart they are, or their natural instinct. However, is one of these traits more helpful and beneficial then the other when trying to survive? People could go back and forth on this topic, but in the end intelligence is the best because one will be able to think through each situation as it arises and come up with a sound decision. In 2015, a television show titled Alone was released. In this particular show candidates are taken to a specific part of Vancouver Island and have to survive by themselves. Before going on the show they have to go through rigorous training as well as...
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...naturalist, man always succumbs to nature, because he has no control over it. Naturalistic writers use their characters, plots, and settings to portray their worldview that man is controlled by natural forces that dictate his destiny and no matter how hard man tried to fight against it, nature is indifferent to man’s tribulation and will always win because man is weaker. Jack London wrote, “To Build a Fire” a literary work of naturalism. London’s main character is never named, but is referred to as ‘the man.’ The man is travelling in the Yukon alone with his husky dog on a day where the weather is 50 degrees below zero. The man was warned by an old timer at Sulpher Creek not to travel alone on a day like this because it is far too dangerous. Against the old timer’s advice, the man sets out for the freezing trail ahead without human company. Throughout the story, London reiterates that although the man is blind to his human weaknesses, his canine companion is in tune with his natural wolf instincts and understands that they are not able to travel against the subzero weather. The dog tries to stay at the fire and turn back several times, but regardless of the multiple warnings given, the man continues to travel on the icy terrain. London uses the man’s recalcitrance against the old timer and the dog to develop his naturalistic worldview saying, “He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances. Fifty...
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