...There are many stories about freezing to death and what the frosty, harsh wilderness can do a person's body but in this paper, we are going to talk about 2 stories with 2 different men that just demonstrate how fragile our bodies really are when put into such conditions.One story called “ To Build a Fire” by Jack London is fictional but seems like it actually happened when reading it. It's about an unnamed man in the Yukon wilderness. Another story called “ The Cold Hard Facts of Freezing to Death” happened to someone in real life named Peter Shark and was published in Outside Magazine. There are many similarities between these 2 stories, but I am just going to write about a couple. First of all, both men were deep in the wilderness noting the time and knowing somewhat of how cold it was. In addition to that, people were expecting them to be a certain place at a certain time whether it may be a moonlight skiing adventure with friends for Peter or to get back to the boys at camp for the man in TBAF(To Build a Fire). Also, they had been warned about how going out in the cold was foolish and unsafe, but despite that, they did it anyway. So when people like an old timer or a guy...
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...Concept of Naturalism in “To Build a Fire” In literature, naturalism has some fundamental characteristics. The plot involves man against nature and the burden of survival requires either adaptation or destruction of the characters involved. In this style of writing, nature or the natural world is continuously pushing man to his limits. When man heeds the warning signs, he may conquer it. But, when he ignores these warnings, it will defeat him. Naturalism is a general understanding of reality and humanity’s place with reality. It mirrors the events of daily life and shows how humans have to be careful when dealing with the natural world. In naturalism, nature is always waiting for man to make a mistake. Jack London in “To Build a Fire” focuses on the idea that nature is indifferent to man. He shows how violent and uncaring nature is. This short story features an unnamed man and his dog venturing into the Alaskan wilderness in the middle of winter. “To Build a Fire” is a short story that illustrates the concept of naturalism and how the natural world, which is dangerous, will gain the upper hand and man will perish. In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”, the narrator makes it clear that the “unnamed” man is in a dangerous situation with the elements. The man is facing weather seventy-five degrees below zero and he is not prepared to survive. Jack London writes that the cold, “did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man’s frailty...
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...Comparison of Stephen Crane's "The Open Boat" and Jack London's "To Build a Fire" Two prominent American literature works, Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat” and Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” portray the man vs. nature theme. These two pieces are alike and different in many ways. I can agree and disagree on the survival methods used by both authors, although Crane’s methods seemed a bit more questionable. While nature seemed to toy with the crew of the boat in “The Open Boat”, the old man in “To Build a Fire” seems to toy with nature by ignoring its signs to stop and to relinquish his failing journey. In the following paragraphs I’d like to get into the trenches of these two adventure stories. These two authors share similar traits when it comes to connections and reasons for writing these stories. Stephen Crane wrote “The Open Boat” based on a real life experience he went through. It was on December 31, 1896 when Crane left the Florida panhandle en-route for Cuba. His mission was to cover the war as a correspondent. On January 2, his ship sank and he and the other three crew members were forced to make the rest of the 30 hour trip in a small dinghy back to the United States (SN). This real life experience compares to Jack London’s real life journey through the Yukon Territory in 1897, around the same time as Crane’s sea adventure. London scavenged the area with others around that time in search for gold (Rees). While the gold rush was ultimately not as successful as he had...
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...contrast there will be comparisons and contrasts- or in other words similarities and differences- in Jack London’s “To Build A Fire” and Richard Connell’s, “The Most Dangerous Game”. The comparisons will be constructed of the settings, characters, and conflict. First topic to be compared is conflict. The two stories share two conflicts, a struggle for survival. In Jack London’s “To Build A Fire” the main character, not named, thinks in his head, “Without doubt he would lose some fingers and toes and some of his face…” (London 703). In the same manner, the main character, named Rainsford, kills a dog and the “bad guy” says to him “… I’ll see what you can do against my whole pack” (Connell 28). However, the two stories differ in what they struggle against. In “To Build A Fire” the conflict is person versus nature. For example the guy builds a fire and from the spruce tree falls some snow and puts out the fire; to quote “He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree” (London 700). Meanwhile, in “The Most Dangerous Game” the conflict is person versus person which is Rainsford being hunted down by General Zaroff-the “bad guy”- in the middle of a baron island. To quote from General Zaroff “Your strength and stamina against mine” (Connell 24). Secondly, literary item number two is setting. In both stories the setting is set in isolated places. Like in “To Build A Fire” its set in the Yukon in the middle of winter. To validate that “The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden...
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...Well known for his stories such as A Call To The Wild and To Build A Fire, London took naturalism and made it into what is studied by so many students still to this day. Jack London’s fame as a writer came about largely through his ability to realistically interpret humanity’s struggle in a hostile environment. Early in his career, London became an interpreter of the things that are, rather than a creator of the things that might be. Due to this, he drew his plots, characters, themes, and settings from real-life experiences and encounters. London often is found describing the impact of nature in all of its raw power on both human beings and creatures such as dogs in his short stories. London incorporated passionate and shocking elemental dimensions...
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...paragraphs you will read about a story written in 1910 and how it compares to today’s animal cruelty in the food production industry. Jack London wrote a short story about pure foolishness and the consequences of failing to snap to reality. The story is called “To Build a Fire”. It is about a nameless man who decides to travel in the subzero climate of the Yukon Trail, which is between Alaska and Canada. He also brings along his wolf dog as his only companion, although they are far from intimate and loving towards each other. As he is traveling along throughout the story, he continues to receive signs that he shouldn’t be out there. For example, right from the start he “…spat again. And again, in the air, before it could fall to the snow, the spittle crackled” (London 107). For any rational person, that would send a flag right up and they’d turn back to civilization until weather permitted them to continue. But not for this man, he knew it was cold and even kept track of the temperature in his head as he walked on. Not only did he ignore his own frostbite, but he also ignored the advice of an old timer who told him he shouldn’t go and if he went, he shouldn’t go alone. But hey, he is a man and men can do anything and everything they put their mind to right? Wrong! Sooner or later his lack of reason led him to fall through the ice and then build a fire under a giant spruce tree covered in a heavy layer of snow. He admits that it was “…easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop...
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...Abstract This essay is a literary analysis of Jack London’s “To Build a Fire.” Jack London has set before us a story of survival and pride. Although the main theme of man against nature is very clear to the reader, it is through the eyes of the traveler and the thoughts of the dog traveling that with him that we begin to see just how frail humans are. The newcomer to the Yukon is ill prepared for what lays before him. Never Travel Alone Jack London “To Build a Fire” There is a thin line between life and death. Our own fate truly lies in our own hands. We can choose to close our eyes and blindly push forward or open our eyes and see the dangers that lie ahead. Our traveler in this story blindly pushed forward. A newcomer to the Yukon, he was headed to a camp about ten hours away by foot to meet the “boys”. “Day had broken cold and gray, exceedingly cold and gray” (p. 518). This was the first warning our traveler ignored. A foreshadowing of what is to come. In the deep of the winter where the days are extremely cold, an old-timer to the Yukon warned the man, never travel alone and to never travel when the temperature was fifty degrees below zero. The man thinking he knew more than the old-timer chose to ignore the danger, his mind empty of all but one thought - reaching the camp by 6pm. Spitting into the air his spittle froze and cracked before hitting the ground, a clear sign that the temperature was much colder than fifty degrees below zero. ...
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...Have you ever felt like you’re talking to a brick wall? Most human beings now a day feel the need to not listen to set rules. Individuals often feel stubborn and selfish when they want things to go their way. When someone acts stubborn usually nothing will change their mind. When someone is selfish usually all they think about is themselves. In Jack London’s short story “ To Build a Fire,” the main point is how people act stubborn,selfish, and want things to go their way. In the story “ To Build a Fire,” the character “the guy” wants to go hiking on the yukon trail. The temperature was negative fifty degrees which is deadly if you don’t have the right equipment. The guy was accompanied by his dog on his hike. The temperature was cold to the...
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...Jack London, the author of “To Build A Fire,” uses scientific realism in his writing, which was influenced by European writers during the nineteenth century. Emile Zola heavily influenced Jack London for his short story, “To Build A Fire.” Zola explains the meaning of reality through the use of scientific determinism. Jack London worked in the Klondike, Yukon, which inspired him to write not only “To Build A Fire,” but also “The Call of the Wild,” “Martin Eden,” and “White Fang.” Survival plays a major role in “To Build A Fire,” as Jack London tells the story of an inexperienced young man versus extreme weather conditions in the Klondike, Yukon. In “To Build A Fire” by Jack London, there is a continuous conflict of man versus nature, in which...
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...‘To Build a Fire” Jack London’s short story, “To Build a Fire,” takes place during a harsh winter in the forest of Alaska. This story is about a courageous but stubborn man who decides to confront the mighty forces of nature. This man takes a journey that not many would have taken, with a husky dog as his only companion. As he travels through the rough landscape of Alaska, he faces many natural obstacles. Facing these barriers make him more aware about reality about challenging the forces of nature, a challenge that in many times becomes a matter of life or death. Throughout the story the main character is not given a name, he is simply known as the “Man.” A hardheaded newcomer to the coniferous forest of Alaska; a man who thinks he knows it all, but is about to come in contact with the worst weather he has ever had to face. The man’s lack of experience led him to his downfall. As his journey began he went into the trail not well prepared, because of the low temperatures a face mask was well needed and he did not bother to wear one. “He does not recognize that man is so finial that the bitterly cold Alaskan inevitably destroys the individual” (McClintock 355). The man had trouble understanding that Nature was something that can never be fought against, but still his machismo personality set in and he was not going to back down from it. Fifty degrees below zero meant nothing to him, he knew it was going to be cold and uncomfortable, and that was it. It did not lead him to...
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...Jack London(1876--1916) was born in San Francisco of an unmarried mother of wealthy background, Flora Wellman. His father may have been William Chaney, a journalist, lawyer, and major figure in the development of American astrology. Because Flora was ill, Jack was raised at an early age by an ex-slave, Virginia Prentiss, who had a great influence on the boy while he grew up. At the age of fifteen he was an oyster pirate, operating his own sloop on the waters of San Francisco Bay. He went to sea, became a tramp, a fortune-seeker in the Klondike, and lived a hard and adventurous life. One of his greatest passions was the sea. In 1896, the second Gold Rush in the Arctic Region, Jack London got the news of gold in Klondike and his great adventure-lover made up his mind to boar for the Klondike. He underwent great hardships and even risked his life in the journey, yet he enjoyed his time there. The harvest was what he had experienced, heard and read during the journey. He experienced difficulties, risks and scurvy. He heard legendary stories about other prospectors and he read Spencer and Milton. The 19th century witnesses the transformation of the American society from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy. The industrialization is spreading over the west Europe and America. Many people regarded the industrialization as an enormous leap in human civilization and it certainly brought many positive effects. Such as promoted productivity, reduced costs, lowed the prices...
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...due to arrive next. However, at the end of one of the books there was a short story by Edgar Allan Poe titled “The Cask of Amontillado”, I read that story several times and every time I found something new that I Had missed previously. That was the reason I got interested in short stories. My fascination with short stories always have been with a given writers ability to develop main characters, , story plot, and a that in novels might take chapters to develop, in a page or two. The stories are rich in content and packed with symbolisms that requires multiple reading to fully understand. Some of my all-time favorite short stories include, Shirley Jackson’s “The lottery”, Poe’s “tell-tell heart”, and “The Devil in Belfry”. Jack London’s “to build a Fire”, “Wisdom of The Trail”, and “War” My first real novel that I read was Animal...
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...naturalist, man always succumbs to nature, because he has no control over it. Naturalistic writers use their characters, plots, and settings to portray their worldview that man is controlled by natural forces that dictate his destiny and no matter how hard man tried to fight against it, nature is indifferent to man’s tribulation and will always win because man is weaker. Jack London wrote, “To Build a Fire” a literary work of naturalism. London’s main character is never named, but is referred to as ‘the man.’ The man is travelling in the Yukon alone with his husky dog on a day where the weather is 50 degrees below zero. The man was warned by an old timer at Sulpher Creek not to travel alone on a day like this because it is far too dangerous. Against the old timer’s advice, the man sets out for the freezing trail ahead without human company. Throughout the story, London reiterates that although the man is blind to his human weaknesses, his canine companion is in tune with his natural wolf instincts and understands that they are not able to travel against the subzero weather. The dog tries to stay at the fire and turn back several times, but regardless of the multiple warnings given, the man continues to travel on the icy terrain. London uses the man’s recalcitrance against the old timer and the dog to develop his naturalistic worldview saying, “He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances. Fifty...
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...Some Rules for Writing on Literary Topics... referring to the author - first reference use the author's full name. Subsequent references use the author's last name only, or call them the writer, the author, et cetera. Mark Twain would become Twain. referring to the title - in your thesis use a complete reference to the title of the work. Subsequent references, use the title if it is short. If it is long, make it shorter by picking out the key words. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn would become Huckleberry Finn. • • On the citations, for a short essay on one literary work you don't have to use the author's last name inside the citations. One last thing. When you write a thesis on a literary work, it is a good idea to add the following to the thesis: 1. 1. the author's name 2. 2. the title of the work 3. 3. the genre (story, poem, play novel) This will have the effect of making the thesis a little longer than you may be accustomed to. For right now, don't worry. Just try to get it all in there. We may talk about splitting the thesis into two sentences later on. The samples on "A&P" followed this pattern. 9 Steps to Writing on a Literacy Topic (LINK) Assignment One page with thesis and evidence on any story from week 2 or week 3 of the syllabus - If you are up for the challenge I am adding a musical performance to the list of options....
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..."Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is a poem written in 1922 by Robert Frost and published in 1923 The poet is masterfully painting photographic picture of the frosted woods in the country area, where frozen lakes and deep powerful forest and the traveler who is on his way home. The unknown rider pauses for a second to observe a frozen beauty of the falling snow and winter woods in the darkening evening. However, despite the attraction of the scene there is imminent danger to stay longer in the frozen woods, and even his "little horse" is resisting his attempt and eager to continue forward to the not mentioned, but definitely existing, nice and warn hugs of civilization, comfort of fire and hot food are waiting for the traveler and his horse. The poet pains spectacular photographic imagery of the poem and possible victory of the Duty and Love over the danger and death. The woods a lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep... Everything in this story: the theme, the speaker, and poetic technique is being designed by the poet to wrap a reader around like nice warm blanket that is waiting for him if he completes his journey. However, before the speaker will achieve his destination, he has a miles and miles to go through the cold frozen woods. The Speaker is a Rider on his way home. He lives in the area and takes the shortcut through the somebody's...
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