Biographical Criticism - To Build a Fire by Jack London

Biographical Criticism : To Build a Fire by Jack London

The short story To Build a Fire ' is not the typical man versus man struggle . It is more of a man versus nature , or in other perspective , a man versus himself struggle . It only has two characters , a man and a dog , both traversing a snowy path towards a certain place , despite knowing the inevitability of danger or even death itself . In the end death was sure for the man , as his struggle against himself and against nature ended drastically . The dog , following his

instinct , went away towards safety . But the story is not only a work of fiction . It is in itself , a combination of the writer 's imagination and his real life Jack London is one of those who lived a very colorful life

Jack London is not the typical writer who wrote for pleasure in his pastime or has made a living out of writing . London grew up without knowing his dad , and eventually lived his life under the care of a foster parent . He worked manual labor in both land and sea , and when he finds a free time , that 's when he scribbles down his thoughts . London literally struggled against himself and his environment . When the time came that he has to live by himself , he worked hard in to sustain his needs . It was like trying to create a fire in a vast land covered by snow so that you would survive the night and would not freeze to death He has to take care of everything in to survive . As a man , Jack London grew up in a hostile environment full of snow which would kill him anytime if he doesn 't take care of himself

The story To Build a Fire ' is not just the work of imagination by Jack London . Somehow , it is affected by his outlook in life , as well as his influences in life . All of his struggles against himself and his harsh environment were reflected in the story . These struggles would literally make or break you . It made Jack London , and it killed the man in the story...