Man vs. Nature in "To Build a Fire"
While man would like to believe in his strength and wisdom, there are times when he must comes to terms with the harsh reality of his weakness. In Jack London's short story, "To Build a Fire," we see mankind in perspective to nature. Mankind would like to believe that he controls the world and the events in it but the opposite is true. When he is left alone with his own devices, he actually does not stand a chance against the forces of nature. London's message in the story is that human beings are temporary and insignificant in the grand scheme of nature; while people may think they are lords over their environment, nature is a more powerful force that must be understood and respected if humans are to survive and prosper.
The vast artic wilderness demonstrates London's point perfectly. Robert Spiller claims that London is a "storyteller extraordinary to William Randolph Hearst" (Spiller 1037). Spiller also notes that London is from the camp of naturalistic writers that "demand of science that human life be reconsidered as the manifestation of natural laws" (1037). London proves this with "To Build a Fire" because the character in this story comes face-to-face with natural laws that kill him. Sam Baskett claims that London makes a comment on life, which is "horror" (Baskett 227). This horror is played out in great detail in the story. London emphasizes the insignificance of man in light of nature by placing the character in a situation where he is small in comparison to the Artic expanse in which he finds himself. The fact that the man realizes the severity of his situation only reinforces his plight. We read:
The trouble with him was that he was without imagination...
Build a Fire by Jack London. Specifically, it will answer the question: Why did the traveler die? Jack London's disturbing story illustrates the difficulty of traveling in adverse conditions, but more, it shows the foolishness of not listening to advice from people who have more experience and knowledge. The traveler dies because he is arrogant, stupid, and does not listen to the advice of others, or even his traveling
"On the other hand, there was no keen intimacy between the dog and the man. The one was the toil slave of the other, and the only caresses it had ever received were the caresses of the whip lash..." (London 347). The implication is the dog could have saved the man if there had been some trust between the two, which again carries out London's appreciation of the animals
The dangers of this setting are readily apparent, and are conditions in which few living creatures, let alone man, can exert their wills to survive. The predominance of a natural settings and such powerful influence it has on its characters is a trait of Naturalism. It is also significant to note that the deciding moment of both of these stories is dictated by the natural environment of the setting. More
On one hand he was portrayed by the Cornwell was the killer of the prostitutes while on the other Sickert was a staunch defender of the sanctity of marriage and reportedly even fired one of his most important dealers for dumping his wife of 25 years for a younger woman. Sickert's wife even gave evidence that the last thee killings by the Ripper were committed in London in a
London's traveler is, to a certain degree, experiencing less terrible conditions and he is practically responsible for everything that happens to him. In contrast, the men on the boat have no power over what happens to them and they are constantly subjected to unfortunate events, even with the fact that they do everything that they can in order to remedy things. Crane's characters virtually refuse to believe that nature
knew the color of the sky," is the opening line of Stephen Crane's short story "The Open Boat." Jack London's short story "To Build a Fire" also opens with a reference to the impenetrability of the "exceedingly cold and gray" skies. Nature is an integral part of the setting of any work of literature, and sometimes features prominently enough to become like a character with features that directly challenge
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