To Build A Fire Research Paper

666 Words2 Pages

Naturalism's core idea is that humans succumb to nature's will. This popular belief, incorporated in many literary works, like those written by Jack London, is a direct reflection of the hopelessness humanity feels in the face of the natural world. "To Build a Fire" centers around a man and a dog, who are traveling through the freezing cold in Alaska, despite warnings from an old local. This short story incorporates the naturalist elements of Jack London's writing. By leaving both the dog and the human unnamed, London ensures that this concept can be applied to all humankind and all canines. In "To Build a Fire", Jack London depicts the theme of how evolution has ruined humanity's instinctual ability to survive in nature through the juxtaposition …show more content…

This was a matter of instinct. To permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet. I did not know this. It merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being. But the man knew, having achieved a judgment on the subject, and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice-particles" (644). Although they do the same task, the man and the dog have contrasting ways of getting there. The man, using his evolutionary intellect, comprehends why the ice must be torn off the dog, while the dog innately knows that it must happen, without any further understanding. The man must use logical thinking to understand and fix the situation, and despite this greater ability to reason, he ends up dying, while the dog, living on pure instinct, survives. Jack London wrote this story to prove that nature will survive in nature and humans are no longer a part of nature. This reinforces the idea of naturalism because the man is facing the environmental conflict and loses to it. Due to evolution, human bodies do not adapt as well to natural environments compared to

Open Document