Build a fire by: jack london

To Build a Fire : Man 's Pride

To Build a Fire by Jack London is a story of man who believed that he is larger than nature itself , that he could conquer anything - even seventy-five degrees below zero . Throughout the story , London clearly depicted a very cold place , a place which obviously no human could survive . According to one critique , the story pits one man alone against the overwhelming forces of nature (Rhodes , 1994 . Probably due to humans ' achievements , the man has become engulfed with pride and has carelessly ignored the power

of nature . The protagonist was described as a man who is keen to details and , through most of the story , exuded confidence that he could cross the place . In fact , he already had a targeted time when he could reach his other companions . He did not have apparent fear of danger and seemed to rationalize to himself so as not to face the real situation : Maybe , if he ran on , his feet will thaw out and anyway if he ran far enough , he would reach camp and the boys (London , 2002 . It was only near the end of the story did he realize the danger that he entered himself into , the death that he could have easily avoided . If he was not as arrogant enough to perceive the old-timers as womanish ' and heeded their advice , the man would never have died and would have enjoyed camping out with the boys ' His arrogance took its toll - nature took his life

References

Rhodes , K (1994 . To build a fire : Overview . In N . Watson (Ed Reference guide to short fiction (1st ed . Detroit , MI : St . James Press

London , J (2002 . To build a fire . In L . Jewell (Ed , Reading and writing about literature (1st ed . Upper Saddle River , NJ : Pearson Education...