The short story of a man wandering across the Yukon Territory in midwinter creates a multitude of feelings in the reader. However, no feeling is stronger than the suspense about the survival of the main character. The man sets out alone to cross the Yukon Territory alone, despite warnings about the dangers of doing so. These dangers as told to us through through the eyes of a narrator develop the anticipation that keeps the story entertaining. Jack London’s effective use of basic literary techniques such as narration and conflict in the short story “To Build a Fire” is successful in keeping the reader involved throughout the story.
Both stories show how isolated the settings are and that makes the story so intriguing. Another major
The main theme, literary device, and style of “Barn Burning” all come together to create not just a simple, easily interpreted short story, but a story with true depth and value. In “Barn Burning,” the theme of loyalty and betrayal contribute greatly to the main conflict of the short story. With immense pressure from his
It 's always a good idea to listen to the story, but the main point of readings is to get further knowledge from them. The three main themes in (Ulysses) are, live life to the fullest, you can never get enough of life, and the old get old and hand over to the young. The first theme in (Ulysses) is living life
Throughout the novel, the man struggles to motivate himself and his son. He sometimes invokes the notion of carrying the fire in order to reassure the child. “Nothing bad is going to happen to us. That’s right. Because we’re carrying the fire.
Darkness Behind the Light The stories “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin and the play Long Day’s Journey into Night by Eugene O’ Neill show that there is darkness behind happiness. Both stories display this by having a paradise like setting that no one is content in. Both stories start off with a utopian tone, then slowly descend into a more unpleasant feeling. No character ever truly solves their problem and sadness, but rather they try to find a quick and easy solution to find temporary happiness. Ultimately, the characters in the two stories learn that happiness has its own price attached to it.
In “To Build A Fire” the author Jack London uses the contrast of humanity and nature to illustrate how fallible we are. We repeatedly see instances where mistakes return to haunt the man. Jack London as a prospector undoubtedly saw many deaths like these. Prospectors who thought the rules were for the“womanish”, who were later found dead, or never found at all. “The absence of sun from the sky, the tremendous cold, and the strangeness and weirdness of it all”- The Yukon is the perfect setting for this story.
The ending of a story will communicate an author’s ideals and may reveal consequences of previous actions. The Wild Wood by Charles de Lint and Ursula Le Guin’s short story “The Bones of the Earth” are stories that both culminate in the saving of a population from a force of destruction, however several differences between them can be found in spite of both authors attempts at illustrating ideals of dying and rebirth as a form of healing and rescue. In both fantasy stories, the ending results in the rescue of a population from a destructive force and it is in this way that they are similar. The difference between the rescues is the how, in that the authors use contrasting ideas of death and rebirth as a means to accomplish the final result.
Jack London’s short story, “To Build a Fire,” is the tragic tale of a man "who, against the advice of an old timer, ventures out into the harsh environment if the Yukon with only the company of a wolf-like dog. Due to his failure to heed the Old Timer's advice, the man is unprepared for the below freezing temperatures and becomes a victim of the harsh terrain. Towards the beginning of his journey, the man gets his feet wet as he falls through the ice into the water of a spring. The extremely low temperature means that the man needs to quickly build a fire to prevent his feet from freezing. Frantically, the man attempts to create a fire, however, his efforts prove to be ineffective.
Jack London 's "To Build a Fire" is a short story that uses the literally element of naturalism to describe how an individual 's choices he or she makes ultimately will decide their fate in the future. In the short story the main character 's ego and lack of experience overcomes him, as he tries to travel through Yukon Trail in the middle of winter unprepared and ill-equipped. He made the poor choice of ignoring all the warning signs, leading up to, and during his journey. The man 's selfishness and arrogance lead to his unfortunate outcome. The story is set in the Yukon during the great Klondike Gold Rush, when over 100,000 people moved to the Yukon Territory in search of gold.