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Essay / Nature in To Build a Fire by Jack London - 669
People always tell you to listen to your instincts. However, everything goes wrong for the poor character in To Build a Fire by Jack London (1876-1916) when he wants to trust his instincts. In the story, a mountain man explains to him how dangerous it is to venture alone into incredibly frigid conditions. Being the confident man he is, he didn't listen to the advice. It soon turns into the story of one man's lonely path in an attempt to survive. He finds a silent companion who can't seem to help him. He then falls into a soft place and gets wet up to his knees. He knew he was in danger and he had to start the fire quickly. However, he had even more bad luck when we were lighting a fire and snow fell on it. He then had to hurry to build a new one, but in vain. His fingers were too cold to start a fire again, so there was nothing he could do. There are three reasons why the theme of nature being more powerful, as is sometimes assumed, works so well in Jack London's To Build a Fire. The first reason why the theme of man versus nature works so well in Jack London's To Build a Fire is because of the setting. Few people would jump at the idea of being alone in the woods in temperatures well below freezing. However, the character in this story doesn't seem to have much problem with this. He is very confident in his abilities to behave outdoors, without any other companion. Except for a companion he meets along the way, a dog. The dog is very quiet and just watches the man try to survive when the worst happens. The man had already been warned by an elder that nature could make things more difficult. However, he did not listen to the man and later learned throughout the story that it was a terrible mistake. The setting of the story was something that no one comes into contact with. “But the circulation of wet, free feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below.” (Page 605) Many people can easily die when it's so cold outside, making the setting of the story a problem that needed to be overcome..