London Foreshadowing

“To Build a Fire”, by Jack London uses literary terms to explain the motive in it. London describes the hardship that mankind faces. He does this by writing what the man learned from having too much pride in himself. London teaches arrogance of mankind toward nature through foreshadowing and symbolism.
London explains the man’s arrogance over foreshadowing. The man does not listen to anyone, he just thinks he is the best and will survive of his own. London writes, “He was a newcomer in the land… this was his first winter. The trouble with him was that he was without imagination. He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances” (London 1). Without imagination, it was harder for the man to come up with ways to survive in the really cold winter. The author is claiming that mankind does not care about nature. London is delivering that the man is narrow-minded. The author conveys that mankind does not think about the resources around him. The man never thought out the journey and starts trying to force nature to help him in a way that he is destroys it, so nature is backstabbing him. For example the dog did not give him warmth, the

snow collapsed on the fire, and it was freezing to the point where he got frostbite.
London also uses symbolism to show the man’s arrogance facing against nature.

“Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost” (London 1). Cold symbolizes weather, or temperature of the place. Nature destroys the things the man tries using to survive with, in the cold. The coldness also symbolizes cruelness of the man. His emotional state was destroyed because he thought he was going to survive, but then everything kept turning out wrong for him. Since he thought he was better than everyone else it ended up resulting in a negative way. He was not only being cruel to others for not listening, but also to himself. He did not treasure his life by not knowing where he was going in such severe conditions. Arrogance is being cold or cruel to oneself without realizing it

sometimes.
Therefore, the lack of awareness and the man’s mercilessness shows the arrogance of mankind. Foreshadowing in “To Build a Fire” shows that mankind is careless about nature. The man has too much pride in himself and thinks he is better than everyone and everything else. Symbolism used by London shows how mankind is cruel to himself and nature. He does not respect his life or any living thing around him. London shows that arrogance can lead to a downfall in mankind.