“[Jack] London possessed, to an extreme, the characteristics associated with creativity” (Schwebel 4). London is an esteemed American Literature author that lived from 1876 to 1916. London wrote many renowned short stories throughout his life, the majority of which fall under the literary movement of naturalism. Naturalism is “The term Naturalism describes a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings.” (Scheidenhelm). Naturalism describes life exactly how it occurs, and approaches explanations from a scientific standpoint instead of discussing the spiritual and supernatural. One of the key elements of naturalism is the explication of human relationships with nature. …show more content…
The narrator’s goal is to overcome the weather and reach a mining camp where he may be able to become wealthy; the only problem is that he must do so alone. “London originally conceived his tale [To Build a Fire] as a moral fable and a cautionary narrative to American youth never to travel alone” (Hillier 1). Naturalism prevails in an obvious aspect of the story; the primary conflict centralizes around a man’s struggle with nature, and, like in most literary modernism, nature proves to be too significant of a power. At the end of the story, the man falters and is unable to remain warm in the frigid wind. The story is also laced with Darwin’s theory of evolution and determinism, therefore survival of the fittest is an important theme in this story. To implicate that humans have not been able to adapt and withstand many circumstances, the narrator owns a dog that is able to stay warm with a thick coat. The significance of the narrator dying and the dog surviving is that it proves man is unfit for such severe weather, especially the people that head out alone when it is seventy-five degrees below zero and are fairly inexperienced in surviving the …show more content…
Claverhouse had not done anything to cause this hatred, but the narrator says that his hatred “…was of a deeper, subtler sort; so elusive, so intangible, as to defy clear, definite analysis in words” (Literature Network). By this, the narrator means that his dislike of Claverhouse is not something he had any control over which is known as determinism. The narrator is controlled by this emotion that he cannot overcome, yet tries to rationalize his emotion. The primary conflict is man versus self because there is hardly any conflict between the two character, and most of the story focuses on the narrator’s attempt to overcome his hatred by trying to breach Claverhouse’s optimism. Eventually, the narrator could not oppose his hatred any longer, and set out to kill John Claverhouse. The narrator did so by training a dog to fetch sticks so that when Claverhouse when fishing with dynamite, the dog would bring the explosive back. Death and violence are common characteristics of naturalism, and the story ends with the violent death of Claverhouse along with natural forces proving to be stronger than man’s will
He is very unprepared because he doesn’t have enough equipment to finish his trip because it’s too cold. The traveler does not have proper clothing to keep him warm in the cold weather. ”The frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost, and especially were its jowls, muzzle, and eyelashes whitened
Christopher McCandless had always admired the works of Jack London. He even went as far as naming Jack London “king”. McCandless relished the naturalisitc elements of London’s writings, elements that he chose to ignore in his own life. Jack London often depicted men as being controlled by their environment and being unable to withstand any heavy circumstances. He depicted themes about the frailty of man and man’s inability to overcome nature. But McCandless clearly did not take away any of the valuable lessons from these stories. He hailed London as “king” but never truly learned from London’s stories, dying in a tragically ironic way when he came to meet the same fate as the protagonist in Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”. Christopher McCandless
The short story "To build a Fire" by Jack London, tells about the relationship between man and nature. The story takes place in the Yukon during one of the long night. The main character who is unnamed travels with a dog along a small trail to a mining camp. The man leaves against the advice of a local and after a short time realizes that he should have waited. The temperature is extremely cold because the mans spit freezes before it hits the ground. The main obstacle of his journey is the many covered springs that mean death to whoever falls into them. The man sends his dog in front of him to make sure that the trail is safe. Eventually the dog falls into one of the springs and gets his paws wet. Immediate, acting solely of instinct, the dog begins to chew the ice off of his feet. Further down the trail a similar incident happens, but this time the man falls into the spring. In order to keep his feet from freezing he has to build a fire. The first attempt to build a fire is flawed by the location the man chose under a tree. After the man is unable to light a second fire because of the loss of dexterity in his fingers, he becomes panicked and blindly runs, until totally exhausted, and dies. Throughout the story the mood gives the impression of extreme cold, and the tone is ironic. Through the actions of the main character, Jack London shows that man must be humble to nature.
Both stories deal with aspects of external forces controlling and shaping the characters of the story. However, in “How to Build a Fire”, the main character struggles with a cold harsh winter in Alaska with temperatures of seventy-five degrees below zero. He must build a fire to keep warm and use his knowledge of the dangers in the snow and ice to keep him alive. Unfortunately, nature is a harsh mistress to overcome. The man later died due to the over powering force of nature, “Later, the dog whined loudly. And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death
The man was clever in bringing the companionship of his dog, but was arrogant for not paying attention. After using all his matches and supplies on his failed fires the only chance the man had left to stay alive was to try and make it to camp. During his entire journey the intelligent dog remained loyal. The author states that regardless of how the man treated him “the dog ran with him at his heels”. (London 397). A dog has instincts greater than man, especially when it comes to traveling in such treacherous conditions. The dog remains loyal and knew in order to survive, they must remain by the fire to prepare for the rest of their journey. The man, whose arrogance got the best of him, had no intention of staying with his dog. During the end of the short story the man realizes he’s never going to make it to the camp. In order to try and withstand the weather the man calls the dog to him in hopes of killing it to use its fur for warmth. Knowing there is something wrong the dog runs away from the man and heads to the camp. By the end of the short story the man never makes it to camp. He realizes when he begins to lose feeling in his entire body that he shouldn’t travel alone. The man thought he was smarter than the dog, and instead of following the dog’s instincts he became even more conceited creating the conflict between man verses
Jack London has written a classic short story in the 1908 version of "To Build a Fire." This is the classic story of man fighting nature. In most genres (e.g. movies, novels, short stories) the main character comes out on top, however unlikely that is. Jack London takes literary naturalism and shows the reader how unmerciful nature is. Much like Stephen Crane in "The Open Boat," in which the one of the characters dies, London doesn't buy into that "has to have a good ending" contrivance. Through analysis of two London's letters (to R.W. Gilder and Cloudesly Johns) these two versions of "To Build a Fire" come alive with new meaning. Although there are many differences on the surface, both stories use his philosophy as expressed to Johns and both teach a moral lesson, one which will not soon be forgotten: "Never travel alone."
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).
Obviously that was not the situation which was meant to occur. The cold served as a lesson to be taught to all explorers who would set foot into the never-ending winter from that day on. The continuous efforts that the man made to start a fire symbolize his will to survive. No will however is match for mother nature. The suffering man took on the role as a great teacher and hopefully preserver of life for generations to come.
“To Build A Fire” is a clear example of naturalism and follows many of its conventions. Some of the characteristics of naturalism are being conditioned or controlled by the environment, having the world understood only through objective science, conflicts which bring out the instincts of man, pessimism, and presenting a viewpoint which is detached from the reader.
The short story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London is a comprehensive story that tackles the struggles of a newcomer trying to survive a day in the Yukon with very harsh and cold weather. The man travels with a big native husky and tries many times to build a fire but fails due to his inadequate personality. The man repeatedly lets his ignorance and arrogance dictate his decisions which soon leads to his demise. The theme of the short story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London is that being ignorant, arrogant and foolish can lead to bad decisions.
...ezing, cold weather. The two types of conflict in “The Open Boat” and “To Build a Fire” are: man vs. self and man v. nature which are common in naturalism literature. London uses naturalism to show how harsh and indifferent nature really is and how no matter what, nature will always be there. He furthermore presented the basic idea of Darwinism and the survival of the fittest, ultimately if you are not the strongest you will not survive. London showed us that we only can depend on ourselves to survive in this world or in the Yukon of Alaska. "To Build a Fire" illustrates that the closer to death the character comes, the plot declines. As the story advances, the man's ambitions go from making it to camp, to staying warm, to just simply surviving. When reading, you can sense the lack of effort on the man's part, only brings him closer to a freezing, unavoidable death.
Jack London brings man versus nature discussion into his story. The environment, however doesn't play against him for say, but does warn him from the very beginning. The audience can conclude that just like “the man” everyone is alone in the world - fighting for ourselves and the things we wish to acquire. The character created by London is isolated from the universe and fooli...
As the plot unfolds, I feel the story's protagonist falls victim to several factors brought into play at once: his inexperience with the severity of the Klondike winters, his inability to envision the possible consequences of his decision to travel alone in such weather, a series of unfortunate events during his trip, and the misjudgment exercised in his attempts to survive those incidents. Though quick and alert, the man's lack of imagination renders him unable to visualize what might happen to a man traveling without a companion should adverse circumstances arise in such severe weather in an uninhabited landscape. When he indeed finds himself in dire straits as a result of getting wet in the brutal freezing weather, he once again fails to imagine how quickly the cold will threaten his life and consequently misjudges the severity of his situation. His poor judgment causes him to make one mistake after another until he finds himself incapable of extricating himself from his situation. It seems obvious that had he made himself more familiar with the culture of the land and paid attention to the warnings of the old-timer on Sulpher Creek, he might have chosen to delay his trip and live to travel another day. Had he understood the importance of fostering a relationship with the dog, a native Husky with inbred instincts regarding the native climate, the dog would have interacted differently with him, maybe warning him of the danger of the weather through its actions or perhaps providing help, either by sharing its body heat or by going for help. However, instead he held little regard for the dog and the dog reciprocated: "there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man.
Another tool that London uses to make this a great story is the way he uses the character of the dog to illustrate the failings of the main character. He describes the dog as a simple creature, a product of its instincts. The dog knows of the foolishness of being out in the open, and only wants to shelter itself from the cold. Because of the cold the dog "experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it and made it slink along at the man's heel," (L...
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.