The Road and “To Build a Fire”: Parallels Amongst Two Unnamed Men
Both The Road and “To Build a Fire” present unnamed men journeying through difficult landscapes and trying to survive. The Road is about a man and his son as they are traveling “south, map in hand, no particular destination in mind except the ocean and the end of the continent” (Semeiks 1). The man and the boy are also in hopes of finding other “good guys” still like them. “To Build a Fire” is similar to The Road, however in the short story it is about a man and his husky dog that are trying to make it to the boys at the camp in time with the horrendous blizzard amongst them. In the end, both unnamed men have their main goal set which is to safely and securely find and …show more content…
Both The Road and “To Build a Fire” have comparable difficult landscapes and bizarre weather conditions that the two unnamed men face as obstacles. The scenery and atmosphere surrounding both contexts is dark, depressing and frightening as both stories progress. The man and the boy in The Road face a few more obstacles than the man and the dog in “To Build a Fire”. For instance, the man in “To Build a Fire” encounters the cold harsh weather conditions and as mentioned previous from one of the wildness rules said by the old-timer on Sulphur Creek about how “not to [build] the fire under the spruce tree” (London 143). His main source of survival is a fire as noted in the title of the short story itself, “To Build a Fire”. Without a fire, his chances of surviving through the icy cold weather are less likely. Whereas in The Road, there are many obstacles that the man and the boy come across, one of the many obstacles they face is energy. Some days the man and the boy went days without any kind of food that leads to taking more time to travel south as food gives an individual energy. Since they went days out without food, their energy to continue travelling was reduced. Furthermore, the heavy cart that contained all their supplies would be difficult to take along with their journey if the man was low on
Both The Road and “To Build a Fire” present unnamed men journeying through difficult landscapes and trying to survive. The Road is about a man and his son as they are traveling “south, map in hand, no particular destination in mind except the ocean and the end of the continent” (Semeiks 1). The man and the boy are also in hopes of finding other “good guys” still like them. “To Build a Fire” is similar to The Road, however in the short story it is about a man and his husky dog that are trying to make it to the boys at the camp in time with the horrendous blizzard amongst them. In the end, both unnamed men have their main goal set which is to safely and securely find and …show more content…
Both The Road and “To Build a Fire” have comparable difficult landscapes and bizarre weather conditions that the two unnamed men face as obstacles. The scenery and atmosphere surrounding both contexts is dark, depressing and frightening as both stories progress. The man and the boy in The Road face a few more obstacles than the man and the dog in “To Build a Fire”. For instance, the man in “To Build a Fire” encounters the cold harsh weather conditions and as mentioned previous from one of the wildness rules said by the old-timer on Sulphur Creek about how “not to [build] the fire under the spruce tree” (London 143). His main source of survival is a fire as noted in the title of the short story itself, “To Build a Fire”. Without a fire, his chances of surviving through the icy cold weather are less likely. Whereas in The Road, there are many obstacles that the man and the boy come across, one of the many obstacles they face is energy. Some days the man and the boy went days without any kind of food that leads to taking more time to travel south as food gives an individual energy. Since they went days out without food, their energy to continue travelling was reduced. Furthermore, the heavy cart that contained all their supplies would be difficult to take along with their journey if the man was low on