To build a fire free essay sample

The Principle of Surviving The term surviving means different things to different people. The definition of surviving means to remain healthy, happy, and unaffected In spite of an occurrence or struggle. In the story To Build a Fire by Jack London, the mall character Is seen as a survivor; or a person who Is unaffected by an endeavor. He has the skirmish with nature In this story, and he loses that battle. He doesnt meet his objective of reaching the cabin In Henderson Creek where he has the conception of meeting the boys and having dinner.In class we have been discussing the subject of survival, and we read some tips on surviving out In the wilderness or Just surviving anywhere. They include: Perceive and Believe, which means look, see. And believe. If some thing goes sour, look for the positives. Staying calm, which means using fear for focus. Use the fear inside to make you strive to complete a goal. We will write a custom essay sample on To build a fire or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Think/ analyze/plan, which means stay organized, and make the big, scary goal into small, manageable tasks that you can complete. Take correct and decisive actions, which means being adventurous yet cautious and wise at the same time.Celebrate you successes, and take joy in completing those tasks that you once thought were unconquerable. Count your blessing, and be grateful you are alive! Play, meaning do math in your head, play mental games, and things like that that will keep your mind sharp and focused. See the Beauty in things; nature is beautiful, and in times where situations can be daunting, look up at the sky, look around at the trees, just bask in the beauty of life itself. Believe that you will Succeed; keep positive thoughts in your adventures and struggles in life.Believing that you will succeed will make succeeding even more glorifying than not believing in yourself and failing to complete your task, because even if you fail, youll still know that you tried your hardest. Surrender, and put away the fears that you have and the pain you feel. When you give Into pain and give Into fear, you automatically lose, because no matter how hard you try, you cant get the weight of the pains ad the fears off of your shoulders; letting go will make you forget about them so they cannot weigh you down anymore. Do whatever Is necessary, and take actions you wouldnt take In other situations.Always keep an pen mind when you are struggling to survive. And never give up. Once you know that the task Is compellable, complete It. Dont focus on the path that you are taking, focus on the destination you are trying to reach. The fact of the matter Is that the mall character In To Build a Fire Isnt a survivor. He does some of these tips noted above, and he did do some things right, but more wrong. Much more wrong than right. He did follow the tips of staying focused, surrendering to pain, and doing whatever is necessary. If he had followed the rest of the rules, his journey would eave been more successful.He should have just kept his head up, stayed calm, and carried on: and we would have been just fine. To build a fire By Cookbooks of surviving means to remain healthy, happy, and unaffected in spite of an occurrence or struggle. In the story To Build a Fire by Jack London, the main character is seen as a survivor; or a person who is unaffected by an endeavor. He has the skirmish with nature in this story, and he loses that battle. He doesnt meet his objective of reaching the cabin in Henderson Creek where he has the conception of object of survival, and we read some tips on surviving out in the wilderness or Just surviving anywhere.They include: Perceive and Believe, which means look, see, and using fear for focus. Use the fear inside to make you strive to complete a goal. Think/ successes, and take Joy in completing those tasks that you once thought were situations can be daunting, look up at the sky, look around at the trees, Just bask in put away the fears that you have and the pain you feel. When you give into pain and give into fear, you automatically lose, because no matter how hard you try, you cant roger about them so they cannot weigh you down anymore.Do whatever is necessary, and take actions you wouldnt take in other situations. Always keep an that the task is compellable, complete it. Dont focus on the path that you are taking, The fact of the matter is that the main character in To Build a Fire isnt a survivor. He does some of these tips whatever is necessary. If he had followed the rest of the rules, his Journey would have been more successful. He should have Just kept his head up, stayed calm, and carried on; and we would have been Just fine. To Build a Fire free essay sample â€Å"To Build a Fire† and its Imagery One of the tools many authors use in writing is imagery. Imagery is a concrete representation of a sense impression, a feeling, or an idea which appeals to one or more of our senses. There are five types of imagery implemented in literature which appeal to each of our five senses: touch, hearing, smell, sight, and taste. They are termed tactile imagery, aural imagery, olfactory imagery, visual imagery, and gustatory imagery. In Jack London’s short story â€Å"To Build a Fire†, he uses imagery to support the point of the story.The point of â€Å"To Build a Fire† is man’s naive notion that he is strong enough to overcome nature’s harshest obstacles. The protagonist, referred to as the â€Å"man†, must survive in the freezing weather of the Yukon. The man believes it is approximately fifty degrees below zero and that he will be able to make the treacherous journey to meet his friends whom are refers to as the â€Å"boys†. We will write a custom essay sample on To Build a Fire or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The severity of the weather is illustrated in the story by the quote, â€Å"As he turned to go on, he spat speculatively. There was a sharp, explosive crackle that startled him. He spat again.And again, in the air, before it could fall to the snow, the spittle crackled. † This quote is an example of aural imagery. It allows the reader to imagine the sound of the man’s spit freezing in mid-air before it even hits the ground. One could imagine the reverberating echo of the man’s spit in the vast wasteland of snow, bringing to the imagination how cold it really is. The narrator brings into the picture using authorial intrusion that the protagonist now realizes that it must be more than fifty below zero since that is the temperature at which spit crackles on the snow and his spit crackled in the air.The man knows that it must be at least seventy degrees below zero. The quote, â€Å"He smiled agreeably to himself as he thought of those biscuits, each cut open and sopped in bacon grease, and each enclosing a generous slice of bacon. † is an example of gustatory imagery. By implementing this statement, London has made it to where the reader can not only picture the biscuits the man has brought for his lunch but, even almost taste the bacon grease soaked biscuits. He must keep his lunch inside of his cloths, close to his skin, to keep it from freezing solid. As the man thinks about is biscuits, imagining what they will taste like, it allows to the reader to understand the arrogance of the man. He has gone into the Yukon in sub-zero weather with nothing more than his cloths that he is wearing, lunch, and a dog. Another undertaking the protagonist must overcome set forth by nature is navigating whilst remaining aware of snow-hidden ice-skins. To Build A Fire free essay sample Identity two flashbacks in the story. For each flashback, identify its purpose. What is the main conflict in the story? Defend with examples from the plot. 1) All good short story introductions serve several purposes.  In Jack London’s â€Å"To Build A Fire†, a story about a man who is alone on a journey through to forest in -50 degree weather, the introduction does a great job at briefly introducing the story’s main character, setting, and tone and engaging the reader. It does so by presenting the main character, the man, in the first sentence with â€Å"†¦when the man turned†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , and the same for the setting and tone. Jack London writes about the main characters surroundings, saying that it is â€Å"cold and gray† and that the man is on â€Å"the main Yukon trail† in â€Å"subtle gloom†, setting the tone. Also, he engages the reader by using time as a so-called â€Å"carrot on a stick†. We will write a custom essay sample on To Build A Fire or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He wisely writes â€Å"he knew that a few more days must pass before the cheerful orb, due south, would peep above the sky† so the reader, being human and wanting the good protagonist to succeed, would keep reading to find out if he does so or not. He does all this briefly, in a paragraph of eight sentences, therefor not tempting the reader to stop reading. In conclusion, the introduction in Jack London’s â€Å"To Build A Fire† is very successful in introducing the key elements to a short story. The main character, setting, tone, and engagement of the reader are all presented very well and expertly. In â€Å"To Build A Fire† by Jack London, foreshowing is frequently used. For example, in the second paragraph, London writes, â€Å"North and south, as far as his eye could see, it was unbroken white†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . This example shows that the man is no were near civilization, and that he must fend for himself. Another example, making the reader pick up an idea of how the short story might end, is in the third paragraph when the author writes â€Å"†¦the absence of sun from the sky, the tremendous cold, and the strangeness and weirdness of it all – made no impression on the man. It was not because he was long used to it. He was a newcomer in the land, a chechaquo, and this was his first winter. †. This foreshadow tells the reader that there is a conflict, man vs. nature, to follow. A third foreshadow strategically written by Jack further engages the reader; sparking empathy and curiosity within, he writes â€Å"†¦able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . In conclusion, Jack London’s â€Å"To Build A Fire† deliberately uses foreshadowing to engage the reader, a very intelligent way of writing since it motivates he or she to keep reading therefore helping Jack in his struggle to make ends meet, whilst improving the story. In Jack London’s â€Å"To Build A Fire†, the main character, the man, does not have many flashbacks. This is because London wanted the reader to focus more on the present situation of the man, and less on the past. Although, he does write a few. One is when the man has a severe conflict after falling through the ice/snow layers into the frigid water. He thinks back to the old man at Sulphur Creek, having a conversation in which he suggests several things that he should think about before embarking on his journey. The purpose of this flashback is to show how much danger the man is facing, having not listened to the Sulphur Creek elderly, and to spark interest within the reader. The second flashback in â€Å"To Build A Fire† is when the man falls much further into grave danger, he thinks of how the old man was right, that he should have prepared himself better. The purpose of this flashback was to foreshadow that the man will probably perish, and again, to spark interest. 4) The main conflict is Jack London’s â€Å"To Build A Fire† is man vs. himself. Many argue that it is man vs. nature due to the central idea that the -50 degree weather is the main cause of harm and crisis to the man, but it progresses to show that if the man would relinquish his pride and stop thinking that he can accomplish the unimaginable without many of the necessary tools, the preparation, and the help, he would still be alive. If the man would have listened to the old man at Sulphur Creek or brought another person along, he would most likely not be dead. Therefore, it is evident that the conflict that many believe to be the main conflict in London’s short story, man vs. nature, is not so, and is actually man vs. himself. Plot Analysis Introduction: The man starts out with minimal awareness of the extreme cold. He is on a journey with a dog in the Yukon off road to a camp where the boys are waiting for him. He becomes slightly more aware of the cold, realizing that his cheeks are beginning to sting, and stops to build a fire and eat lunch. His fingers go numb, and the man begins to continue walking. There begins to be a subtle gloom while reading, sparking a prediction that he may not make it out alive. Rising Action: As the man is walking, the man falls into sheets of ice/snow, which have water under them. He gets his feet wet, and delays to build another fire and dry off his boots. His fingers get too cold to bend and feel anything, and he tries to build another fire. He does not succeed in building a fire this time, thanks to his poor planning. He tries again, but again, fails. Climax: The man knows he cannot make another fire, and becomes desperate for warmth. He remembers a story in which a freezing man killed a horse, cut it open, and warmed up inside. He tries to do the same with the dog. He is unable to do so, not being able to move his fingers to strangle the dog. In a final act of desperation, he tries to run to the camp so the boys can help him, but eventually has to stop. Falling Action: The man lies down in the snow, slowly and unknowingly freezing to death, which he perceives as falling asleep. As he dies, he sees himself with the boys, walking down from the camp to find his blue body. He then sees himself in a warm room with the old man from Sulphur Creek who gave him advice that he did not take, and admits that the old man was right and he should have taken his advice. The man then dies, in what seems to him to be very warm and comfortable. Resolution: The dog waits, confused at the sight of the man sitting in the snow without a fire. The dog howls and then walks away towards the camp, where it knows will find fire and food.