To Build A Fire, By Jack London

With the natural ability to control some sides of nature, most certain conditions and forces are well controlled. People of everyday life are inevitably and left with no will, which has no rule against nature’s indifferent influence. The struggle against nature is crucified by many authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries, using key points of naturalism and determinism, a key component of naturalist theory. Jack London has a great work of writings which have been referred as examples of naturalist theory in classic American literature. Stories such as “to Build a Fire”, to explain themes of naturalism and universal determinism in order to show the protagonist’s lack of free will in his constant battle with nature, along with foreshadowing
In the story, “To Build a Fire”, London makes us aware that the protagonist is completely unaware of that notification, he believes with his own determination and will he can conquer the depth of hardships in the wild, attempting to contradict the words spoken to him by the old man at Sulphur Creek. The character simply believes through his own resolve that the expedition is an obstacle he can survive, but when set against nature in this environment, survival is the key, an important element when talking about Naturalism. The forces of nature and its destructiveness are beyond the protagonist’s control, and the author makes that point when he talks about the cold and its effects on the explorer, saying “But, rub as he would, the instant he stopped his cheekbones were numb, and the following instant the end of his nose went numb.”(London, pg 630)”Though the man, through his own determination, attempts to warm himself by rubbing his cheeks and the end of his nose with his mitten, he is unable to achieve the desire, as nature takes hold of his
None of these require instinct, only a certain methodology and knowledge of the items. In the sense of his intellect as opposed to the dog’s instinct, the man’s knowledge of his complicated tools can only take him so far, but eventually lead to error, such as his fingers becoming too numb to strike his matches to create a fire. The dog on the other hand is able to rely solely on instinct in order to overcome the veracity of nature, such as burying itself into the snow when it becomes cold or gnawing the ice between its extremities. Although the man cannot rely on fur in order to keep his warmth, London still shows us that the instinct of the dog prevails the man’s subpar intellect. If the man had similar instinct as the dog and understood the severity of the cold, he could have been more cautious in his approach and possibly survived the misfortunes to come or not even have begun the expedition of leading to