Pride's Consequence: A Study of Jack London's 'To Build A Fire'

All too frequently it seems that modern writers take the imperfections of human nature and romanticize these flaws so as to make their readers more at ease about such matters. Not so in Jack London's graphic short story entitled “To Build A Fire”. In this poignant tale, the author implements plot emphasis and internal conflicts in order to teach the reader a sharp lesson regarding pride and the dangers that accompany it. Amidst the string of events in Mr. London's tragedy, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the rising action, which goes on for quite some time. Doubtless the author placed such emphasis in order to show the reader that pride does not always have an immediate negative outcome, although eventually consequences will catch up

to the arrogant man or woman. The author does not use only the plot to deliver his message, however, but he also uses conflict within the story to portray humanity's plight. When he designs the main struggle in his short story as character vs. self, Mr. London allows the reader to watch as the cocky traveller in the tale digs himself into a inescapable quandary. By describing the gruesome death that the man eventually meets, the author most likely intends to show what dire consequences pride will bring. Therefore, the central conflict is intentionally placed there by Mr. London in order to further advocate his warning to take instruction and keep clear of foolish mistakes. To summarize, Jack London's pointed and careful use of plot emphasis and conflict within the story do a great deal in delivering his warning concerning pride and heedless behavior to the reading audience.