To Build a Fire

Jack London is one of the all time greatest writers in American history. One of the biggest reasons his writing was so succesfful was because of how real it all seemed. Everything that London wrote about was so realistic because he wrote about what he knew. The Yukon, Jack london went to the Klondike gold rush to strike it rich. London did end up striking it rich but not nearly in the way he thought he was going to. The story To Build a Fire was a bout a guy who was on his way back to camp from a scouting trip. It is really cold outside, colder than he had ever been. Anyway, he is on his way with his dog when some of the ground become a little treacherous and he steps in some water. Not a big deal but it can be dangerous, and so he makes a fire to warm himself up. After some time he finally makes the fire when some falling snow quickly puts it out. At this point the many realizes that he might be in trouble. He quickly tries to start another fire but fails as his hand and feet become frostbitten. In the story it says" Suddenly he bared both hands, removing his mittens with his teeth, He caught the whole bunch between the heels of his hands. His arm muscles not being frozen enabled him to press the hand heels tightly against the matches" (London). Then in a panic the man begins to run trying to reach the camp as well as attempting to warm himself up. "This fear quickly became poignant as he realized that it was no longer a mere matter of losing his hands and feet, but that but was a matter of life and death with the chances against him. This three him into a panic and he turned and ran up the creek bed.." (London) The man finally stops running and decides that if he is going to die he would rather die honorably than like a chicken with its head cut off (London). When the man dies it represents a lot of things. Things like pride, arrogance, foolishness and stupidity. All those things helped make this story of of the most real realism stories I have ever read thanks to its marvelous scenery and descriptions. When I read this story I get a very clear image of what i think of when he describes the Yukon river covered by three feet of snow as well as three more feet of snow on top of the ice. I can just see the frozen river bed in my mind and imagine the tall birch trees the main character keeps using. This story was one of the best examples of Realism as well as a good example of Regionalism, he wrote about the region he knew best on. Stories like these will continue to survive the test of time.

London, Jack. "To Build a Fire." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 603-614. Print.

"Meet Jack London." Glencoe Literature. Comp. Jeffery D. Wilhelm. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 601. Print.