How To Build A Fire Analysis Essay

The unfortunate story of this man traveling alone in the Yukon shows our undying desire to trek through ill terrain without the need for assistance. The man who went aside from the main Yukon trail obviously did not listen to the wisdom of a native Alaskan who has seen these parts of the woods for many years. The arrogance that the man displayed as he constantly mumbled to himself about his mistake progressively instills the short values that revolves around the need for wisdom when preparing for dangerous journeys. In this daring story called “To Build a Fire”, by Jack London, the struggles that we have faced in the past is like how the man pushes through the harsh path that the cold world has offered him only to regret in the end just how …show more content…
Throughout the story, the author continually exaggerates the cold physical feelings that the characters are experiencing in the cold. This form of exaggeration leads them to a less positive mindset and eventually lands them in bad situations. In page 9, the narrator says, “The blood was alive, like the dog. Like the dog, it wanted to hide and seek cover, away from the fearful cold. As long as he walked four miles an hour, the blood rose to the surface. But now it sank down into the lowest depths of his body.” The personification that represented the man’s health shows us just how grave his condition is as the man continues to stay in a spot against the cold wind. As he continues in his journey, the man later realizes his own regrets in going on this trail but never really gives up from what he has done because of the ambitions and the pressure that his own family or friends have prepared for him. The repeated uses of amplification that the author exaggerates in the story shows how much that the man is committed to the task that is given to him. It is only by the end when he will understand that this simple goal was too difficult to carry out