Characteristics_of_to_Build_a_Fire

The characteristics of To Build a fire The Six characteristics of the imagery of jack London’s to build a fire helps me understand the spiritual aspect of my relationship with nature. The way the story to build a fire is written helps me better understand all the events that happen to the man. Jack London’s way of describing gives you a perfect picture of how a place looks, how the man feels, or just makes you feel the agony and suspense held throughout the story. Because of this style of writing I was able to understand how nature can take a toll on you if you don’t use your mind to predict further ahead while on a journey like presented. Using your feelings and observing your surroundings can go a long way when used correctly. The many different characteristics presented in this story give the reader a better understanding of what’s going on throughout the story. The first characteristic reveals the description (Mason) of the short story. Jack London uses very many descriptive words to describe the scenery and harsh conditions of the weather. It lets us know the setting and every tiny detail about it, whether it is how the sky looks, or how harsh the freezing temperatures. He gives the reader a lot to think about when it comes to description. In paragraph two he describes the cold and snowy conditions by saying “it was all pure white, rolling in gentle undulations where the ice jams of the freeze up had formed.” Words like these help me picture the setting perfectly, because of this description I know to picture snow everywhere and every little thing frozen. Jack London makes it where the reader can draw out the scenery by closing their eyes just by having adjectives put in front of everything that he describes. The second characteristic helps you understand the main character (Harmon) in the short story. The main character in this story definitely had a lot of strength to make it through such harsh weather as far as he did. Although, this man did not use his brain as much as he needed to on this journey. One part in the story it says “he was not much given to thinking” this was true; I think the man would have had a better chance of surviving if he had the brain of the dog. The man was so set on getting to his destination he didn’t take the time to use logic nor did he use his instincts like the dog did every so often. So even though you have the strength and determination that doesn’t mean that you will be indestructible or invincible when you’re traveling in negative 75 degree weather, being smart and trusting your instincts is the best way to survive in that case. The third characteristic reveals the Conflict in the short story. The conflict is “the struggle that grows out of the interplay of the 2 opposing forces.” (Frye) The main conflict in the story is the man fighting for containment of his life due to the frigid cold in order to be able to continue on his path. In his case no matter what he did nature worked against him. Whenever he thought he would be alright, something else had to go wrong. One main crisis (baldick) of the story is the part where the fire went out due to him setting it up next to the spruce tree. Because of the bad decision on picking where to build the fire a disaster happened and he said “where It had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow”, which now became one of the reasons the man’s survival was in jeopardy. This event had the man worrying the narrator even says “it’s as though he had seen his own sentence of death.” The fourth characteristic reveals the plot of the short story. The ways that jack London set up the plot of the story or “the pattern of events and situations” (Harmon) is great. He makes you believe that the man using nature and hope will make it to the destination. Although the main character seems like he knows all survival skills to keep himself going, this is not enough. The man forgot one of the main rules when traveling the way he is, “after fifty below, a man should travel with a partner.” Although he did have a dog with him, a dog can’t help you much when trying to build a fire. This story starts out making you believe that the man will make it to his destination fine. The story then proceeds to throw challenges at the man, challenges that end up being the death of him. The fifth characteristic reveals the climax of the story. The climax of the story is toward the very end where the man manages to believe in himself enough to start running. This “rising order of importance” (Baldick) in the story is a major part of this story. Although he could not feel any of his limbs he surprisingly managed to keep going for a little bit. This event gives you the sixth characteristic of the story, which is the built up suspense or “anticipation to the outcome of events” (Baldick) in the story. Soon after this moment of running he realized he didn’t have the stamina to keep going. As soon as he fell and realized he had to rest for a little bit, this was his downfall. This spot where he was laying was the place that he knew he would die. The narrator says “he was bound to freeze anyway, and he might as well take it decently” showing the sign of giving up. As soon as the character hit the climax of the story, the action dropped off a cliff. These Six characteristics of the imagery of jack London’s to build a fire helped me understand the spiritual aspect of my relationship with nature. To build a fire is a story that helps you realize that you need to be prepared for what life can throw at you. Nature is a powerful thing. The outcomes in life are determined by your actions. In this man’s case he didn’t use his senses or instincts to help him decide smart choices. Unlike the man from to build a fire, be prepared for the worst of situations, and lookfurther ahead in life to help better yourself and the outcomes will be more enjoyable.