Naturalism In Jack London's To Build A Fire

Naturalism in literature is shown through characters who are unable to have agency in their lives, or make significant choices. Therefore, nature controls their lives instead. In Jack London’s novel “To Build a Fire”, London depicts a man in the late nineteenth century who dies of hypothermia because he was too ignorant to have agency in his own life, like many people in life are due to ignorance or fear. At a time when the hunt for riches in the gold rush was climaxing, the man let his ego overpower his brain. The main thematic idea presented in the short story is the main character’s superior feeling to the Earth and because of this false superiority, he is ignorant towards nature and consequently ends up dying in the cold. The man was warned

In this short story, the dog’s instinct to seek warmth contrasts greatly to the man’s lack of common sense. London writes, “The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold. It knew that it was no time for travelling. Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told the the man by the man’s judgement” (642). The man is ignorant towards nature and to the dog. It gives the man obvious signs that the weather is too dangerous, even for an animal to withstand. However, the man believes he is superior to nature, especially to the dog so he ignores all red flags of danger in the

He believes that his child is not white because his wife, Desiree, is biracial. However, Desiree insists that she is white. Chopin writes, ““Look at my hand; whiter than yours, Armand,” she laughed hysterically” (445). This is evidence pointing towards Armand’s possibility of being biracial. He is so disgusted that Desiree could be anything but white, and asks her to leave with their child. He is so humiliated at the fact that his partner and child are African-American, that he abandons them. However, it turns out Armand is biracial. He discovers a letter his mother wrote to his father writing, “But, above all,” she wrote, “night and day, I thank the good God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery.””(Chopin, 446). Due to his ignorant internalized racism, Armand lacks agency in his life and loses his family. His fear of scrutiny for being black, led him to living a life without