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To build a fire by jack london conclusion
To build a fire by jack london conclusion
Analysis of to build a fire by jack london
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There will always be those tangible entities in life that one struggles to explain, the term humanity being one of them. Many just describe humanity as being the entire human race, however, it is not that simple. People do not realize what the 'human race' consists of exactly, there is much more to it than just the space we fill up on earth. Our existence includes our customs, our spirits, lifestyles, values, and things beyond our reach. Humanity is such a common theme in American Literature as it plays a big part in realism. Realism is a form of writing that reveals the truth about daily life and the obstacles that come along with it. Several pieces of realism carry the theme of humanity by approaching it with different techniques. The aspects of humanity will be deeply analyzed and the impacts it has on a literary work’s meaning. Additionally, Jack London's "To Build a Fire" will be used as a valid example to show how the author, being a naturalist, incorporates glances of humanity through failure, human nature, and denial. As mentioned above, London's story will be looked at to further prove the significance of humanity in literary work. This piece unravels humanity and its faces through the eyes of a naturalist. Really the major …show more content…
The author also stated that several concepts of democracy are found in realism, which is a system led by the people (humanity). Moreover, Reuben insisted that realists consume more imagery and complexity in their work rather than symbolism. Next, while speaking about the different characteristics of realism, the author specifically wrote that “ordinary characters, studied in depth,” is a common technique used in literature. Plus, realists involve the daily experiences of such characters, therefore, humanity plays a major role in
During the March 1986 edition of the Journal of Modern Literature, Lee Clark Mitchell of Princeton University opens his article “‘Keeping His Head’: Repetition and Responsibility in London’s ‘To Build a Fire’” by critiquing naturalism’s style of storytelling. Mitchell claims naturalism as a slow, dull, and plain way of capturing an audience; and Jack London is the epitome of this description. Mitchell states, “[London’s] very methods of composition prompt a certain skepticism; the speed with which he wrote, his suspiciously childish plots…have all convinced readers to ignore the technical aspects of h...
The setting is London in 1854, which is very different to anything we know today. Johnson’s description of this time and place makes it seem like a whole other world from the here and now....
Altho somewhat similar the two stories are very different in many ways. The first story is called “Mystery of Heroism” by Stephen Crane and the other one is “To Build a Fire” by Jack London. Both of the books are part of the short story genre and realism stories. The author's purpose for writing the “Mystery of Heroism” is to tell a story about a brave man who went to get water for a dying man. The purpose for writing “To Build a Fire” is to tell about a man and his dog and how he tried to fight the below freezing temperatures to stay alive. Both authors use realism because they want to tell real stories about people and how they had to overcome struggles in their lifetime. These two stories have similarities but they are way more different than anything else. One of the stories is about a man who has to overcome fear to get water for a man.
Cheever creates the story in a realism happening in the world. Realism displays a society where ordinary people deals with it’s the forces on
Jack London was an American man of many talents, which included being an author, journalist and a social activist, despite being minimally educated. Nonetheless, he was undoubtedly most recognized for his short stories and novels that fixated on the harsh, cold climates that Mother Nature crafted. London focused on a deeper level of the wild and the literary devices in his work are littered throughout every one of his novels and short stories, including The Call of the Wild, White Fang, as well as “To Build a Fire.”
The. Rpt. Jack London: Essays in Criticism. Ed. Ray Wilson.
Naturalism and realism are tremendously similar in literary style but their slight difference in details, such as environment and instincts, commence a dramatic effect in the author’s portrayal of the underlying themes. Realist literature developed in mid-19th century France in effort to progress toward literature not consisting of neoclassic romanticism. In this effort, literary works developed into characters and settings that are relatable to the audience, much like the compatibility of naturalism and the readers of its time period during industrialization. Even to this day, when people search for an enticing book to read, it is presumed that fictional novels that are relatable would be more appealing to the audience. However, unlike naturalism, realism ...
Realism is a literary style in which the author describes people, their actions, their emotions and surroundings as close to the reality as possible. The characters are not perfectly good or completely evil; they exhibit strengths and weaknesses, just as real people. The characters often commit crimes or do immoral things, and are not always just good or just evil. In a realistic novel, aspects of the time period or location are also taken into consideration. Characters dress in clothes that befit them, and speak with local dialects. Most importantly, characters are not sugar coated or exaggerated. The characters do things as they would normally do them, and are not worse or better then their real life counterparts.
Watt argues that the characters in a novel owe their individuality to the realistic presentation. "Realism" is expressed by a rejection of traditional plots, by particularity, emphasis on the personality of the character, a consciousness of duration of time and space and its expression in style.
In the short story, “To Build a Fire” by Jack London shows how man vs. nature and how inexperienced traveler in the Yukon tries to travel alone with his dog, even though it’s advised not to. Yet he is stubborn and thinks he is right, and sets off for Henderson Creek to meet his friends. He faces many different conflicts of man verses man, and man verses nature.
Realism, in the broadest of definitions, is the faithful representation of reality or verisimilitude. The realist is considered to be the “philosophical extrovert” . Within the scope of American literature, ‘realism’ spans the time period from the Civil War to the turn of the century. Some claim that American realism was the product of a country shaken by war combined with technological advances and increased consciousness of nationhood. Realism, according to Weinberg, “denies the continuum of time as meaningful dimension of experience because time cannot be seen or touched” . In essence, realism was a solution to the problem of the past. It “made a religion out of newness and contemporaneity” . However, some critics of realism have criticized it as having been “exposed as an insidious agent of the capitalistic-imperialistic-bourgeois hegemony” .
There are two dominate aspects of Realism (Social Rules & Morality), and two dominate laws of Naturalism (Environment & Determinism), that comes into play in the American Literature stories of Daisy Miller ,Frank James, and Jack London. According to one authoritative source (Britannica), realism in its basic form in Literature is a literary style in which the author describes the reality of persons (people) in detail to resemble their actions, emotions, and environment. The strengths and weaknesses are blended in with the characteristics of their flawed personalities by not being completely good or evil, weak or strong. The characters in the stories attempt to make their way through their social environment often coming into conflict with moral and governing rules. The term naturalism “describes a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings.” according to The World Encyclopaedia. In many cases the laws of Nature and the Environment portray a dominate presence.
Jack London is among the many prolific writers from the United States of America who possess great artistic works ranging from great time novels ,short stories to plays just but to mention a few. He is fondly remembered for his great novel, ‘Martin Eden’ published in 1909. In the novel he tries to express the challenges faced by young writers who try to exploit their talent and passion in an area where little opportunities present themselves. This novel has stood the test of time with its relevance evident to date. It is a favorite to many young upcoming writers thus the main aim for writing this paper is to focus on the autobiography of Jack London as ‘Martin Eden’.
The main purpose of naturalistic literature is to detach from any one person and to analyze how the principles of the natural world can influence people in a myriad of ways. According to the ideas of naturalism, people are victims to the unfeeling hand of fate beyond their own control. The illusion of free will is shattered, replaced by a deterministic outlook on life. No matter what a person does, external forces are the ultimate authority governing his life. Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” is an excellent illustration of these common themes of naturalism. The Man in the story truly believes that he can change his fate and conquer the forces of nature that he is faced with. However, just like many others before him, he too fails to overcome these forces and perishes in the process.
Gavin argues, “During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, empirical philosophy recognized a perilous disconnect between knowledge and the actual existence of things in the world” (Gavin 301-325). These ideas of knowledge, and those of the real world, were shaped by Descartes’ theory that reality is perceived by the individual and is not attached to previous ideas of reality. Unlike the novels before, realistic novels appealed to middle-class readers who wanted to read about ordinary people; they could see themselves as main characters in the story (Mario). With the influence of Descartes, novels and the genre of realism came together forming realistic novels. Realism is the attempt to depict all characteristics of human life with such attention to detail that the events seem as realistic as possible, as if readers could perhaps know the characters personally or even be them. Regarding Crusoe, he faces many realistic chall...