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
Naturalism can be seen in Jack London’s To Build a Fire because it puts a regular person in extraordinary circumstances, putting the main character at the mercy of natural forces, the bitter cold. Throughout the story, it is obvious that nature holds no regard for man and is a powerful force not to be messed with. Naturalism is shown in this story by showing how people need to be careful at every corner, as death could reach them anywhere, waiting for them to commit a mistake that could take their lives. The story is about a man and his dog trying to survive the harsh below zero weather by building a fire. London uses social Darwinism, by showing survival of the fittest. The unnamed main character is unable to survive on his own in the cold
As terrible as the Great Chicago Fire was to the city of Chicago back in 1871, the lessons learned from this disaster and the reconstruction that followed from the ashes and rubble actually helped turn Chicago into one of the great cities in the United States. This paper will examine what happened and why, what the leaders of Chicago learned from the experience, and how the will and spirit of the people of Chicago along with financial support from a sympathetic nation and beyond forever changed the city of Chicago for the better.
The One Meridian Plaza was a 38-story office building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The building was built in 1972 and destructed in 1992, due to a fire that engulfed eight floors and scorched for nineteen hours. Three firefighters lost their lives battling the biggest high-rise office building fire the city of Philadelphia ever encountered. The fire started in an office room on the vacant 22nd floor. Investigators said the cause of the fire was due to combustion of a pile of linseed oil-soaked rags.
Instead of immediately building a fire to warm up, he takes off his mittens and grabs his lunch, instantly his hands freeze and he has to slap them on his legs to regain feeling.... ... middle of paper ... ... He then drifts off into what seemed to be the best sleep of his life and the dog stays for a bit only to eventually leave and find the other “food-providers and fire-providers”. The perseverance displayed by the man in Jack London’s short story “To Build a Fire”, is a true testament to the human spirit.
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.
In the late 1800’s there was a bad financial crises, this lead to Jack London at one point not having too much money. London was born in 1876 in the city of San Francisco, California. Jack was focused on writing stories about the wild and the forces of nature, in the story “To Build a Fire”, it’s all about surviving the cold. In all the work is a great story about how human beings are at their knees when it comes to the elements. Jack London best exemplifies naturalism through his use of nature and how it is superior and showing how humans can’t fight it in “To Build a Fire.”
In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”, London is portraying the typical american individual through his anonymous timberman; self-reliant, brave, and unwavering. In the short story, a man goes out into the Yukon Territory in search of profitable business. His priority is to build a fire to warm his limbs and his furry follower. The story largely focuses on the conflict between nature and man, as we see this man furiously try to race against the cold’s quick overtaking of his body.
Would you believe me if I told you that many people say the Great Chicago Fire, a fire which destroyed 17,000 structures, left 100,000 people homeless, killed 300 people, and caused about $200 million in damages was the best thing that happened to Chicago? Chicago changed as a result of this fire in three ways; fire codes/laws, organization of buildings, and economic development and population growth.
There are many rumors but no one is exactly sure how the Great Chicago Fire. On of the rumors is that Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lamp that started the fire. This is an excuse to blame the Irish immigrants. They weren’t in favor in 1871. (Stein, R. Conrad, 16) Daniel Sullivan, a visitor to the neighborhood, was outside. Mr. Sullivan cried out fire around 8:30. Flames were coming out of the barn filled with cows. (Pascal, Janet B., and Kevin McVeigh, 41) The origin of the fire wasn’t known to everyone. Police officers were able to shoot any person who looked suspicious. (Angle, Paul M. 22) Everyone was tense over how exactly the Great Chicago Fire started.
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".
“To Build a Fire” written by Jack London in 1908, is a story of a man, who, left unnamed, sets out to traverse a dangerous trail in the Yukon territory near the end of nineteenth century. Accompanied only by a dog, t¬¬he man travels across the trail, risking his life with every step on the snow-laden path full of frozen ice-water traps. He falls into a trap and wets his feet, incurring the possibility of frostbite. The man manages to build a fire, but it is shortly extinguished by snow that falls from a tree. After another failed attempt and a loss of supplies, the man succumbs to the cold and accepts his death. The story is written about a decade after the onset of the Yukon Gold Rush of 1898, when thousands of prospective fortune-finders rushed to dig up gold with little regard for the environment of the region. Although London does not mention the event in the context of the story itself, the setting and plot of the story is too similar to what an expectant miner may have enc¬ountered during the Yukon Gold Rush for this to be a mere coincidence. During the Earle Labor, a reputable biographer, suggests that London’s main motive behind writing “To Build a Fire” was to alert men to the dangers of nature (Labor). Without much respect for nature, prospectors had been rushing to amass a fortune during the gold rush, but they often neglected the dangers posed by nature. Men were facing the same fate as the man in London’s story because they did not understand the extent of nature’s power due to their arrogance or inexperience. Jack London wrote “To Build a Fire” with the intent to educate men to know and respect the dangers of nature after his first-hand experience in the Yukon Gold Rush.
Jack London's To Build a Fire. In his short story entitled "To Build a Fire," Jack London portrays a. bitter conflict between man and nature. The nature of this story is the harsh environment of the Yukon Trail. London chose to use nature as the antagonist, almost as a force working against the main.
As an adolescent, Jack London led an impoverished life and struggled to earn more money to support himself and his mother. In an attempt to find a small fortune, London joined the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897. Unfortunately, he returned home penniless. However, his adventures in the Yukon provided him the most epic experiences that guided him into writing some of his most famous, widely acclaimed literary works. His novels focus primarily on naturalism, a type of literature in which the characters are shaped by their environment through the practice of scientific principles. The author centralizes his themes around this literary technique. Jack London’s naturalistic portrayal of his characters explores the brutal truth of humans versus animals and the struggle for survival.
A Fire Not Built “To Build a Fire”, a short story written by Jack London, is viewed as a masterpiece of naturalist fiction. “To Build a Fire” features a miner and his wolf-dog companion who are traveling in the Yukon Territory to meet fellow miners. The miner is the protagonist and the wolf-dog companion is the foil because the wolf-dog plays off of the traits of the protagonist. The central theme of “Building a Fire” concerns the struggle of man versus nature. “To Build a Fire” tells of a man traveling in the extreme cold through the Yukon Territory.
Actress, Keri Russell, said, “Sometimes it’s the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.” This statement explains the outcome of Jack London’s “To Build a Fire.” The Yukon is a treacherous place. It was for the man in this story, too. He did not know the land and the only thing he had to follow was a little trail made from sled dogs. The mood of the man could have been different. If the man had followed his instincts better, perhaps he would have made it to the cabin. The setting that the man was in was cold. It was colder than fifty-degrees degrees below zero he should have never been out there in the first place. London’s setting and mood in “To Build a Fire” affects the story’s meaning.