How To Build A Fire Regionalism

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To Build a Fire
The work by Jack London called “To Build a Fire” will be critically analyzed. Regionalism seems to be incorporated within this work. Regionalism is an aspect of American Literature that some writers incorporated into their works in the 19th century. The purpose was to describe the different climates and ways of living within different regions of the continuously changing landscape of the United States. In “To Build a Fire”, there also seems to be symbolic, and metaphorical messages within the writing. These aspects, as well as the possible messages contained within this work will be examined.
The setting of the story takes place in the Yukon in the early 1900s. The Yukon is a territory in Canada which borders the United …show more content…

The character thought that he was successful by his own means of operation at this point in the story. He neglected to follow the old-timer’s directions of not traveling alone in these conditions. The fact that the old timer “laid down the law” speaks volumes. There was no one for the man to communicate with, which was mentioned earlier in the story. This communication could have led to information that could have ultimately saved his life. There is an old saying that “Two heads are better than one.” At that point in time, his fire was successful, and he felt that the warnings from the old-times were “womanish”. If someone was there with him, they could have warned him about the mistake he made of building the tree under a spruce tree filled with snow. The fact that he was warned about traveling alone and suffered because of his neglect to follow directions could reflect the ultimate intentions of Jack London when it comes to this story. The story could have been a symbolic way of communicating to his readers the importance of listening to the advice of people who may have more experience than you do. Serious, or possibly fatal accidents could be avoided when this is

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