The struggle between man and nature is a common theme in a lot of literary pieces. Some exaggerate the role of either nature or man; however, this tale exposes weaknesses of both sides and provides an interesting twist. Through the use of both flat and round characters, involved in a specific life changing event, will lead to a role reversal that proves nature will truly win out over nurture in some situations. Mr. London involves the reader and prepares the plot through specific uses of Character, Point of view and demonstrates his view on which will be the victor.
The two characters in this story are the old man and his wolf breed sled dog. The stories is told from the man’s point of view and immediately display him as the master of his situation. This character would be considered round because of the three dimensional aspect in which he describes him. He has a past, in which he describes him being new to the area. Because he is a green horn he isn’t sure of the risks that particular wilderness holds. Regretfully, he is also ignorant stating, “The trouble with him was that he was without imagination. He was quick and alert of things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significance” (London 1058).
The character is presented in a fashion so that the reader can sympathize with his predicament. At the time when this story was written, their still exist those that remembered untamed frontiers the posed risk and danger to the average man, but this was no average man. He was an entrepreneur and explorer. The character was constructed with the same stuff the most Americans felt they were constructed with. However, he is flawed and his flaws are those provided to him by his parents, in his genes. ...
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Jack London is known for his ability to bring to light the fact that nature will overcome. This story specifically points out the dog’s ability to overcome through superior breeding for such environments. The man, or any man, cannot always think themselves out of situations; sometimes our genes are essential to survival. The animal in this story is an anti-hero of sorts, designed to change perspectives of how we view our animal companions. Through the use of dynamic characters, different point of views and harsh and seemingly unbeatable situations, Jack London, provided a believable scenario, in which man’s vulnerable nature is exposed.
Works Cited
London, Jack. “To Build a Fire.” The Norton anthology of American literature. Ed. Baym, Nina, Jeanne Campbell Reesman, and Arnold Krupat. 7th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2007. 1057-67. Print
Mitchell, Lee Clark. "'Keeping His Head': Repetition And Responsibility In London's 'To Build A Fire.'." Journal Of Modern Literature 13.1 (1986): 76. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Feb. 2012.
A person's next move can affect them and someone in their life without them even realizing it. So why would they want to make the decision that could result in a sudden death in their family ? It is only right they be held accountable for the steps that lead up to or occurred after, they got entrapped in a life or death situation unless, it happens to be an accident.
In “To Build A Fire”, the main conflict throughout is man versus nature although it would be inaccurate to say that nature goes out of its way to assault the man. The fact of the matter is, nature would be just as cold without the man's presence regardless of him being there .The environment as a whole is completely indifferent to the man, as it frequently is in naturalist literature. The bitter environment does not aid him in any way, and it will not notice if he perishes. In the same way, the dog does not care about the man, only about itself. Ironically enough though, as the man was dying he was getting upset toward the dog because of its natural warmth, the instincts that it had, and its survival skills and those were the elements that the man lacked for survival. It is ironic that the man had to die in order to find out that man's fragile body cannot survive in nature's harsh elements, regardless of a human’s natural over-confidence and psychological strength.
The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 7th ed. of the book. Vol. A. New York: W. W. Norton, 2007.
Jack London wrote the novel The Call of the Wild; it was also his first success (Feast). The Call of the Wild is an exciting beast fable which dramatizes the unforgiving harshness of existence but shows that suffering can lead to heroic self-awareness (Buckner). London was big on the philosophical idea of Naturalism. As well as having links with literary naturalism, "The Call of the Wild is also a mythical book informed throughout with such traditional myths as the Myth of the Hero." Although Buck is always a dog throughout the story, his predicament is highly relevant to the human condition in a novel beginning with concise patterns of description and moving toward an increasingly lyrical style (Williams). The protagonist of The Call of the Wild is a dog named Buck. He's part German Sheppard and half Saint Bernard, he's labeled the "hero" of the story. The story takes place primarily in the Klondike region of Alaska except for in the first chapter it takes place in the Santa Clara Valley of California. The story is centrally focused around Buck; if it wasn't for him not having any speaking parts the reader would think he was a human because of the personality traits he possesses. In this paper we will discuss traits such as Buck's ability to adapt, Buck's bravery, his mental and physical strength, his loyalty and love and his instinct of the wild.
In the song We didn’t Start the Fire, Billy Joel does a summary of the most relevant events that took place between 1949 and 1989. The events mentioned in the song include political, cultural, and historical events. His generation is blamed for all the conflicts that occurred in those forty years, when in reality, those conflicts have roots many generations in the past. He portrays the positive and negative effects his generation had in the world. In the positive side, they had advances in science and many cultural events. In the other hand, they were involved in dozens of conflicts all around the world that left misery and death. He emphasizes that many of the problems that are blamed on his generation were started by a previous generation
feelings in the man and the dog, of a constant battle with this world of
The great and disastrous impact of nature against man proves to play a central role as an external conflict in London's short story. The extreme cold and immense amount of snow has a powerful and dangerous hold against the man. The numbing cold proved so chilling that the man could not even spit without the spit freezing. “He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow, but this spittle had crackled in the air."(604). That deadly force of nature goes on to further challenge the man, preventing him from continuing his goal. "At a place where there were no signs, where the soft unbroken snow seemed to advertise solidity beneath, the man broke through."(608). At this point in the story, nature overtakes the man, a conflict that directly stops him from achieving his goal, establishing nature as an external conflict providing the man with a struggle.
An Analysis of Jack London's To Build a Fire. In her cultural criticism of Jack London's "To Build a Fire", Jill Widdicombe explores the question of whether the story's protagonist might have perished from the extreme cold of the Klondike winter even if with a traveling companion. She describes the brutality of the winter weather and, alluding to the man's confidence in his ability to survive the weather, describes it as "behavior most of us can understand" - especially if we are accustomed to warmer surroundings. She states: "the extreme cold of frosty landscapes--or "The White Silence", as London describes it--is so quiet and abstract that it does not immediately appear to be lethal".
Foremost, the theme of this story is that ignorance can lead to poor decisions because the man ignores his surroundings. An example of this is when the man ignored the advice and warnings given by the old-timer from Sulphur Creek. It stated on page 4 in the 3rd paragraph “It certainly was cold, was his thought. That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes gets in the country. And he laughed at him at the time.
Jack London creates a setting that is hostile and “cold”. The story is set in the wilderness of the frozen Yukon, during the harsh winter months, when “there was no sun nor hint of sun” in the sky. The character that London introduces is isolated from the world. “The man” doesn't have a companion; only the dog that follows him.
In the story "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, foreshadowing is often used. In this story foreshadowing is an effective way to build up a climax. The foreshadowing is both shown by the environment and things the characters say.
Throughout thousands of years, fire has affected society in both positive and negative ways. It has lots of meanings and uses, whether it is used to take away someone’s life or to improve the way people are living. Ray Bradbury effectively demonstrates the versatility of fire as a symbol, using its many meanings throughout Fahrenheit 451 to effectively mirror Guy Montag’s character development. Guy Montag’s character development mirrored fire as a destructive force, a tool of hope and passion and the symbol of renewal and comfort. The different meanings and uses of fire have been demonstrated by Ray Bradbury throughout Fahrenheit 451, which is shown in the character development of Guy Montag.
London, Jack. "To Build a Fire" Literature: an Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. X. J.
Karen Rhodes analyzed to build a fire in a cultural context. He believed "London's works were written so that he could survive in a world he increasingly came to see as "red in tooth and claw""(1). It is obviously the story of a man fighting the stresses of Nature. According to Rhodes, to build a fire was drawn from the year London spent in Canada's Yukon Territory. London depicted arctic and very cold conditions throughout the story. Rhodes believed to build a fire represented London's Naturalistic Flavor. "It pits one man alone against the overwhelming forces of nature"(Karen Rhodes, 1). He also believed to build a fire can either be interpreted as the Pioneer American experience or can be read as an allegory for the journey of human existence (Karen Rhodes, 1). According to Rhodes, there are two versions of to build a fire; the first one was written in 1902 while the second one was written in 1908. We are studying the 1908 version." It has come to be known as everyman trekking through the Naturalistic Universe"(Karen Rhodes, 1). To build a fire is indeed the story of a man trekking through the universe alone except for his dog. The man's death at the end was the culmination of the story. " His death came through no lapse of observation, no lack of diligence, no real folly but the nature of himself and his environment" (Karen Rhodes, 2). I think his is a fine criticism of London's to build a fire. London had made use of his life experiences in writing the story.