Life is something that we can give or take and the choices that people make decide this.
A lot of people don't notice that their actions and choices can affect them in life threatening situations,most people see it as a game that they need to defeat. Or they just ignore experienced people that have made mistakes in the past and have learned from them and want to stop people from repeating the same mistakes.In my point of view people in life or death situations should be held accountable for their actions because their lives are something they should value and not just throw away because of a ignorent mistake that could of been avoided. Most bad situations start off with poor judgment that causes the whole problem to collapse and become a life threatening situation . Like in “How To Build a Fire”,The main
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(Paragraph 21) “No man should travel alone in klondrine after fifty below.” The man in the story didn't take the knowledged man's words and made a big mistake going out into those temperatures, because of his poor judgment this affected his whole trip drastically. I know this might sound like a mistake, right? That’s because it was a mistake, a mistake that got him killed at the end of the story! Making mistakes in the wild are much more dangerous than making mistakes at home. The man in “How To Build A Fire” basically wasted his life on poor judgment. Imagine how many people waste their lives on wrong decisions that could've been prevented.This Unfortunately occurs every year around. “Survival Is Your Own Responsibility” (Paragraph 1) “Every year numerous accidents and some fatalities result from poor judgment.” I will admit that not all mistakes are caused by poor
"I am absolutely confident that beyond the motif itself, there is no similarity of treatment whatever" (544). Jack London, writing in December 1908, was responding to an inquiry from the Richard W. Gilder, editor of Century Magazine. Gilder, having just published "To Build a Fire" in his magazine, was worried when he came across another version published 6 years earlier. London's explanation was that the first story was for boys and the new one was for men; the only similarity being the motif itself. Through careful analysis of the two stories, in light of this letter to Gilder, and another letter to Cloudesly Johns, it is apparent that although London claims no similarities (besides the motif), they definitely exist.
When someone finds themself in a life-or-death situation, their judgement becomes clouded. People can make a decision that they may regret in the long run, but it has saved their life. Most of the time, these people do things that they don’t know enough about- leading to clouded judgement in life-or-death situations. They do not inform themselves as much as they should, and they decide to do something that would put them in threat of danger. People take risks every day, they know what these risks are- but they still choose to go through with their actions. People in life-or-death situations should be held accountable for their actions because they have control over putting themselves in these types of situations that have any risk.
In the beginning of “To Build a Fire”, the man is on his way back to a cabin. While he walks, he mentions how he knew how cold it was, but it didn’t mean anything to him apart from just a temperature—nothing more. He does not think how this may affect his body in the long run, and is somewhat ignorant of the consequences of such foolishness. An example from the story, the man spits in the air to see if his assumption is true. When he hears an explosive cracking
People always tell you to listen to your gut. However, all goes wrong for the poor character in Jack London’s (1876-1916) To Build a Fire when he wants to trust his gut. In the story, a mountain man explains to him how dangerous it is to venture out alone in incredibly freezing circumstances. Being the confident man that he is, he did not listen to the advice. It soon turns into a story of a man’s lonely road to try to survive. He finds a silent companion that cannot seem to help him. He then falls into a soft spot and gets wet to the knees. He knew he was in danger and he had to get a fire together fast. However, more bad luck came his way when we were building a fire and snow fell on it. He then had to hurry to build a new one, however it was to no avail. His fingers were to cold to rebuild a fire, so there was nothing that he could do. There are three reasons why the theme that nature is more powerful that sometimes assumed works so well in Jack London’s To Build a Fire.
Literature focuses on many aspects to form a coherent and captivating story, mainly those aspects retaining to characters and conflict. Within any story, a conflict arises for a character to overcome which drives the whole story. Conflict, the struggle against many forces of multiple varieties, creates the obstacle or issue a character must face to advance past the problem. In "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, conflict plays a major role in the story. The conflicts of man fighting against nature and man against himself present the struggles the unidentified man from "To Build a Fire" faces and attempts to overcome. These conflicts of man and nature influence the whole story and the fate of the character.
When the narrator introduced the main character of the story, the man, he made it clear that the man was in a perilous situation involving the elements. The man was faced with weather that was 75 degrees below zero and he was not physically or mentally prepared for survival. London wrote that the cold "did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man's frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold."(p.1745) At first when the man started his journey to the camp, he felt certain that he could make it back to camp before dinner. As the trip progressed, the man made mistake after mistake that sealed his fate. The man's first mistake was to step into a pool of water and soak his legs to the knees. This blunder forced the man to build a fire to dry his wet socks and shoes so his feet would not freeze and become frostbitten. When the man began to build a fire he failed to notice that he was doing so under a large, snow laden spruce tree where he was getting his firewood. When the man had a small fire that was beginning to smolder the disturbance to the tree caused the snow to tumble to the ground and extinguish the fire. "It was his own fault or, rather, his mistake. He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree. He should have built it in the open."(1750).
Life is something that people tend to take for granted. When people catch themselves in life-or-death situations they sometimes make decisions that seem crazy to normal people just living their everyday lives. People that make crazy decisions when they know the risks, or decide to do something before fully understanding the risks, should be held accountable for that decision that they made and if they need rescuing then they should be the ones to pick up the bill. If they don’t take responsibility for the cost of their decision and rescue, then taxpayers are the ones that end up paying for it.
I think the main message in To Build a Fire written by Jack London is perseverance in the characters for the man to keep going in the freezing weather, the dog to not curl up and die and the man he tried so hard to make it to the camp and at least tried to get there. I think there was a lot of perseverance that went on throughout this story. If you think about it what would you have done if you were in his shoes? I would not have been that brave I would have been freaking out and so scared I wouldn’t have a clue what to do. This guy in the story was not that smart, but at least he stuck to what he wanted to do and he did it even if he didn’t succeed. I would not even want to be out there in that negative 75 degree weather in the first place much less walking around doing things and falling into rivers I would rather stay where I know it is safe and warm.
Life is surprising and is full of opportunity and taking chances, but it also has faults and tragedies. Life is a
In the story "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, a man is travelling through the klondike in Alaska to find his friends, "the boys". Because the man is only quick and alert to the things of life and not the significance, he finds himself in some very bad circumstances. The man experiences several instances of bad luck such as getting wet up to his knees, the spruce tree dumping snow on his fire, and matches falling through his numb fingers and going out in the snow. I think that the central idea of "To Build a Fire" is to listen to your instincts and the “significances of life,” because they will help you when you find yourself in troublesome circumstances. The man in this story is so focussed on reaching "the boys" that he overlooks numerous consequences because he is focussed on the individual actions. The man did not respect mother nature's power, in his arrogance he didn't listen to the "significances of life" nor his instincts so he ended up paying for it with his life.
The story To Build A Fire takes place in the freezing harsh wilderness of Alaska. This story illustrates a couple of themes. One, is man’s stubbornness to listen to reason and thinking that he knows best despite being provided with sound advice. Another main theme which was masterly depicted by Jack London is that of humankind’s inability to overcome nature. I will explore both of these in the following paragraph as they went hand in hand together in this story.
Nature does not get warmer for the man. Nature does not allow his hands or feet to warm. Nature does not allow the man to muster the strength to kill the dog. Nor does nature give the man enough endurance for him to be able to make it back to the camp. “To Build a Fire” shows just how unrelenting and unsympathetic nature truly is.
Life is the ultimate value for each and every one of us. Probably the single most important thing we can do in life is to serve the purpose in which we were created. I still do not have a clear view of what my Philosophy of life is, but I do have a better understanding of the path I need to take to seek those answers and am well on my way of accomplishing this goal.
I agree with Karen Rhodes observation that to build afirecan be interpreted as the story of a man in the journey of human existence. However, I think her view of to build a fire as an American experience comes from the fact that she is an American. I agree with her theory that the Man's death in the end was due to the nature of the man and his environment. The protagonist in to build a fire did nor have any grasp of the danger he was in. he tried to reason himself through it all. He thought, " Maybe, if he ran on, his feet will thaw out; and anyway if he ran far enough, he would reach camp and the boys. (Jack London, 157).
Life is about the adventures you take with all the people you meet throughout your lifetime. They will take you through the roughest of times and you will not even feel the pain. You will do things with them that will make life just that much more worth living. Even though not all of the thing you may encounter with them maybe be fun it still will have an impact on your life. Memories you make can impact you for the rest of your life.