To Build A Fire, By Jack London
Assignment 5-second topic
One of the themes that the short story “To Build a Fire”, by Jack London, is representing to us is the dominance that nature have on man, and their internal mutual struggle. In this struggle sometimes as winner is leaving man, but sometimes nature.
In this story the nature starts the battle by striking first. From the beginning it is imposing its dominance over the man. The extreme coldness is her best weapon which the nature is using constantly, and is surprising the man with unpredictable strokes. But the man is not far behind. He uses the fire to oppose at the coldness, and to represent his control over nature. Without his awareness quite nature allies are his arrogance and pride, and his lack of knowledge.
Those traitors are slowly leading him in to death.
After living his first build fire, the man caught himself in the nature’s trap. Crashing the ice and moist his leg is obstruction to him to keep moving. He needs to build a fire again. This time he is building the fire under a three. And this was the mistake that the nature was waiting, to strike its main blow. The fire is extinguished by the three from which branches was afire. The man after failing to obey the “old-timers” advises, to not go alone, is finding himself in hopeless situation. After failure to build a fire again he is realizing that he is losing the battle. He wanted to try to survive by killing the dog, but nature has done its part, and he did not make it because of his frozen hands. After a few hopeless attempts to reach his goal, the camp, he realizes that it is all over and he sets down waiting for the death.
I think that the greatest culprit for the man’s failure is his own. The man did not obey any advice by the “old-timers” who gain knowledge about this travel before the story begins. About this is guilty his arrogance as an outsider and his individualism. If he had obeyed those advices, it would have been much more likely to survive.
One of the themes that the short story “To Build a Fire”, by Jack London, is representing to us is the dominance that nature have on man, and their internal mutual struggle. In this struggle sometimes as winner is leaving man, but sometimes nature.
In this story the nature starts the battle by striking first. From the beginning it is imposing its dominance over the man. The extreme coldness is her best weapon which the nature is using constantly, and is surprising the man with unpredictable strokes. But the man is not far behind. He uses the fire to oppose at the coldness, and to represent his control over nature. Without his awareness quite nature allies are his arrogance and pride, and his lack of knowledge.
Those traitors are slowly leading him in to death.
After living his first build fire, the man caught himself in the nature’s trap. Crashing the ice and moist his leg is obstruction to him to keep moving. He needs to build a fire again. This time he is building the fire under a three. And this was the mistake that the nature was waiting, to strike its main blow. The fire is extinguished by the three from which branches was afire. The man after failing to obey the “old-timers” advises, to not go alone, is finding himself in hopeless situation. After failure to build a fire again he is realizing that he is losing the battle. He wanted to try to survive by killing the dog, but nature has done its part, and he did not make it because of his frozen hands. After a few hopeless attempts to reach his goal, the camp, he realizes that it is all over and he sets down waiting for the death.
I think that the greatest culprit for the man’s failure is his own. The man did not obey any advice by the “old-timers” who gain knowledge about this travel before the story begins. About this is guilty his arrogance as an outsider and his individualism. If he had obeyed those advices, it would have been much more likely to survive.