Is mother nature truly compatible with humans? Or is mother nature all for itself? The two short stories “To Build A Fire” and “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” debate these questions as they demonstrate the external forces characters face when challenged with the Earth’s typical weather changes. Both of these stories depict the idea of nature being able to outsmart humans while using different methods such as irony, imagery, and external conflict to aid the idea of nature being superior. In both “To Build A Fire” and “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” characters face the ultimate tests of nature and the irony of human thought. These characters battle internal and external conflict and struggle to stay sane and alive. In “To Build A Fire” a man, whose …show more content…
The man quickly realizes that he should have taken the advice as he comes face-to-face with frostbite, which delays him from starting fires, feeling his body, or traveling. Nature in this story shows superiority because after such horrid weather conditions the man actually considers killing his dog and using the inside of his body for warmth. The ironic meaning in this story is unmatchable: an overly confident man gets put back in his place by mother nature. There is a similar theme in “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” as people who are considered “bad” and “villains” easily learn they are not as tough as they are thought to be when they are intervened with natural forces of the earth. The irony in both of the mentioned stories shows that humans are not as adaptable as they may seem when it comes to being in weather outside their comfort zone. In these short stories, the authors give the characters companions, even if they aren’t good ones. These different characters show how they respond differently to the setting conflicts that they are faced with. In “To Build A Fire” the unnamed man is on a trip to meet his friends at a certain location in the