...To Build a Fire Tamara Perez-Davis TUI University Module 1 – SLP ENG 102 Dr. Idara Essien-Wood Introduction "To Build a Fire" is told using the third-person point of view. The narrator is an outsider who tells the reader a story about the main character. A man that is so arrogant that he doesn’t even listen to his own instinct. London establishes this third-person point of view right from the beginning of the story, saying, “when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank.” The outsider narrator sets the stage by introducing the setting and referring to the main character as “the man.” It also starts to tell you the story of how really cold it was at that time and how he was not going to listen to anyone, even himself. Body There is a man that is traveling in the Yukon (in Alaska) on an extremely cold morning with a husky wolf-dog. The cold does not faze the man, a newcomer to the Yukon, who plans to meet his friends by six o'clock at an old claim. As it grows colder, he realizes his unprotected cheekbones will freeze, but he does not pay it much attention. He walks along a creek trail, mindful of the dangerous, concealed springs; even getting wet feet on such a cold day is extremely dangerous. He stops for lunch and builds a fire. The man continues on and, in a seemingly safe spot, falls through the snow and wets himself up to his shins. He curses his luck; starting a fire and drying his foot-gear will delay him at least an...
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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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...To Build a Fire Summary A man travels in the Yukon (in Alaska) on an extremely cold morning with a husky wolf-dog. The cold does not faze the man, a newcomer to the Yukon, who plans to meet his friends by six o'clock at an old claim. As it grows colder, he realizes his unprotected cheekbones will freeze, but he does not pay it much attention. He walks along a creek trail, mindful of the dangerous, concealed springs; even getting wet feet on such a cold day is extremely dangerous. He stops for lunch and builds a fire. The man continues on and, in a seemingly safe spot, falls through the snow and wets himself up to his shins. He curses his luck; starting a fire and drying his foot-gear will delay him at least an hour. His feet and fingers are numb, but he starts the fire. He remembers the old-timer from Sulphur Creek who had warned him that no man should travel in the Klondike alone when the temperature was fifty degrees below zero. The man unties his icy moccasins, but before he can cut the frozen strings on them, clumps of snow from the spruce tree above fall down and snuff out the fire. Though building a fire in the open would have been wiser, it had been easier for the man to take twigs from the spruce tree and drop them directly below on to the fire. Each time he pulled a twig, he had slightly agitated the tree until, at this point, a bough high up had capsized its load of snow. It capsized lower boughs in turn until a small avalanche had blotted out the fire. The man is...
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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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...Nicole Carpenter Eng-2510 May 19, 2014 To Build A Fire In reading, “To Build A Fire, London writes about a nameless character who tries to travel through the Alaskan winter with no one with him. The unnamed man has a few characteristics that many of us can relate to and understand. He has a strong ego, disregards the suggestions of others, and loses his cool and panics when things become dire. These character flaws ultimately result in the unnamed man’s death. I believe there are other contributing factors because of the unnamed man’s lack of rational thinking only becomes clearer when he does not heed the warnings of someone who has been in similar situations and has been around the area much longer than he has. The unnamed character’s experiences let him know that we need to take the experiences both the good and bad from other and use them to make a better decision than we are sometimes use to. Even after all the advice the old- timer gave him he still with no regard continued on his journey until he breaks through the ice and threatens not only his travels but his life is when he truly sees the significance of using other people’s experience suggestions and warnings, The man’s luck does not get much better and after his fire gets extinguished by the snow the man panics and his lack of respect for nature and taking the easy way out picking out a spot too close to a tree led to his last panicking moments. He toyed with the thought of killing his dog to use its body...
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...Trevor Russell To Build A Fire My favorite Sentence in this short story read, “On the top of this ice were as many feet of snow.” The sentence is at the beginning when the man is describing not only how far he came, but what it looked like. I picture the scene from the end of the movie Shooter. Mark Wahlberg is sniping some of the bad guys who worked for the government. He’s on the top of the snow covered mountain thats wide open, and he can see nothing but the bad guys for the government, and the white snow. “And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger.” This sentence was my second favorite. In the story where this sentence appears the unnamed man is describing when he was walking down this stream coved in a half inch of ice, and how he panicked when he felt the give under his feet. I know his feeling in this situation. I feel into a stream that was frozen over one winter to save my niece that fell in while we were sledding down a hill. It was very cold, and I panicked as well. Even though it was very cold I wouldn't hesitate to do it agin, because I love my niece with all my heart. I liked that sentence, because it brought back that old memory with me and my niece. Yes we were having fun but sometimes you can have a little to much fun and not be paying attention, therefor you end up having to just in a frozen stream to save your little niece. My favorite character in this short story would have to be the...
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...In Antigone written by Sophocles Antigone faces a tough decision, leave her dead brother’s burial spot alone or give him a proper burial and get put to death. In To Build a Fire by Jack London the character who remains nameless also faces death however his death is not a choice. The character in To Build a Fire suffers a death that is worse than the character in Antigone. Antigone had known her consequences and knew her fate but the character in To Build a Fire did not. He tried his best to survive flashing back to tips given to him by a wise man, on the other hand Antigone would not listen to anyone, she was going to do what she thought was right. “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more that our abilities” J.K. Rowling. Antigone had been warned by Creon “No one shall bury him, no one mourn for him…and the penalty- Stoning to death in the public square (pg. 461 lines 20-24). Antigone had tried to get her sister Ismene to help bury their brother but she did not want to disobey her leader Creon, although Antigone was set to marry Creon’s son they had both known the punishment. In To build a Fire the character also had a companion, his dog. He had brought his dog to let him go first in case of any traps he could get caught up on. In both of these they had each had a companion, the dog was more than willing to do...
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...‘To Build a Fire’ and The Grey both cover identical topics such as survival and perseverance. But the main theme shown in both is "in the wild, there are many factors which determine one's chances of survival." The two main characters go through similar events in their respective stories. The two men go through conflict of man vs. nature and are in comparable settings. In TFB an unidentified main character travels through extremely cold weather in order to make to his camp site. The grey also takes place in the north, a terrible storm causes their plane to crash in the frozen wilderness. It is significantly cold in TFB: “Fifty degrees below zero meant 80 degrees of frost. Such facts told him that it was cold and uncomfortable, and that was all.” Both males understand what such cold weather can do, although one shows it more than the other. Another problem with nature they encounter is the animals they must deal with. Ottway (Liam Neeson) and the other men encounter wolves multiple times while in TFB he knows killing the dog will provide him with warmth. They all show perseverance even with the many conflicts they must deal with. The men must endure the extreme cold temperature in order to survive. Snow was one of the main parts of the settings. With both stories set in the frozen wilderness the men acknowledge how to use their surroundings in order to survive. For example in TBF he realizes he could use the dog in order to help him stay in warm until he can build a fire. In...
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...Do you believe that reality is subjective to the people it applies to? The authors of "To build a fire", "The jungle" and "food production design" have different and similar views on reality. Although they may have similar views, these three authors all express their versions of reality differently. The author of "to build a fire" explains this through survival of the fittest in his story. He believes that reality is set in stone for people and will not change. The author of The Jungle helped explain his version by telling a compelling piece on how the meat packing industry works. He believes that he has hope for the future and that reality is able to change. Lastly the author of food production and design explains the flavor industry and...
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...The character Thomas Build-the-Fire from sherman Alexie,’’This is what it means to say Phoenix Arizona’’,tells the story of his adventures on helping his old friend victor to go to Arizona to retrieve victor's father ashes since he just passed away recently.Thomas Build-the-fire is a young Native American boy with ratty old braids and broken teeth who want to help his old friend,because he made a promise victor's father that he would always watch over victor after he is gone.Throughout the rest of the story we see little to no change in the character of Thomas. Thomas is the type of person who will forgive all of the bad blood between old friends and help if they're in need of assistance.For instance,when Thomas saw Victor in the trading post...
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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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...The short stories “Indian Education”,“The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore”, “ Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play “The Star Spangled Banner” at Woodstock” and “The Trial of Thomas Builds the Fire”, all reflects on the Indians past and how it constricts their future. The Native Americans feel restricted by the past and constant discrimination from the rest of the world, hindering their own success. In “Indian education” Victor deals with constant discrimination throughout his youth, his fellow classmates give him trouble and his teacher is especially hard on him. The title “indian education” can be seen as ironic as Victor learns many lessons in school while none of them being academic. The lessons he learns didn’t come from what was taught in the class room but rather how to deal with hardship personally. Making him a much stronger emotionally as a person than any of his peers. This recurs throughout the rest of the stories as Victors spirit shall not be broken and Victor goes above and beyond the others proving his own intelligence. His teachers interpret this as a sign of disrespect which contrasts their own idea of a stereotype for Native Americans as uneducated delinquents who just grow...
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...In the short story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London a man goes on a hike alone in the Yukon Territory. He had some mishaps and try to solve them in weather below 50 degrees. In this story, the man is responsible for his situation because he did not take advice from the old-timer, was over confident, and was unprepared. First, “the man” is responsible for his situation because he didn’t take advice from the old-timer. For instance, he traveled alone in very cold weather which was below 50. This shows he knows that it is very cold when his spit freezes in midair before it even hits the ground, but did doesn’t seem like he really cares. Also, he traveled by himself without anyone or any help in this type of environment. This explains he traveled with just the dog, and he traveled through a different, smaller path than his friends. With these reasons the man is responsible for this situation because he didn’t follow orders from the old-timer....
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...During the 19th century, many Americans started to become irritated and annoyed of typical American stories cliché “all well ends well”. Many Americans at this time struggled with poverty and depression. Americans immigrants at this time were often taken advantage of and never achieved “the American dream”. Citizens became upset with these stories because it did not match up with their stories. All of these stories had happy ending where their stories did not. This is called realism where citizens wanted the truth in stories and not lies. Many writers use realism to speak for the American citizens. Jack London short story To Build a Fire displays that a slight mistake can cost you your life. A man told the protagonist not to travel the Yukon...
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...the most important essentials for a restaurant. After all, kitchens are hot and fires are bound to happen—and they can quickly escalate causing major damages to both property and employees. In order to keep the staff, customers, and the building safe you must employ a fire suppression system. Selecting a fire suppression system may seem easy at first, until you realize that there are several options available. If you are on the hunt for a fire suppression system and do not know what to look for, keep these three tips in mind: 1. Automatic vs. Manual There are two main types of fire suppression systems: manual and automatic. While a manual system will work, an automatic system is usually better. An automatic system will automatically detect and put out a fire, whereas a manual system requires you to actually turn the system on. In addition, an automatic system will still work even if there is a power outage. If you have a small kitchen, a manual system may work fine. However, larger kitchens should opt for the automatic system as it provides more safety and peace of mind....
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