Wednesday, February 17, 2010
To Build a Fire
In Jack London's "To Build a Fire", you can definitely tell that he is a realist. The tragic ending proves it. The man dying at the very end after fighting so hard for his life was a tragic way to end the story. In real life the man would not have made it because we was not able to build another fire and it was just too cold so London is showing how it really would be. I really liked the story though because of how London explains the terrain of Alaska. Not many people have experienced such harsh weather conditions or have any idea such conditions exist. A part of the story that I found a little humorous was the relationship between the man and his dog. Most people treat their dog as a friend but this dog meant nothing to him. He made him go out on the ice first and then even tried killing him to warm up his hands. When the man died the dog does not stick around like most dogs would. It left and went on about its life and just left the man. I could imagine the dog being glad that the man got what he deserved for treating him like that.
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I have a particular interest in this story because I love a great survival story. I read and read wondering when the man would finally in a last give of hope find his destination only to find out he runs short and dies. Miss Bailey, you are 100% correct about London being a realist because of the ending he creates.
ReplyDeleteThe part about the dog is peculiar in that in the end, the dog used better instincts and was able to outlive his master. There must be no hard feelings when all lives are on the line and the dog simply wanted to live and to care about the man later. The same went for the man. He didn't care that he abused the dog when they were traveling. He only cared about surviving. He would have cared after they got to the cabin, but that never happened.