Jack London Fire

“The day broke cold and grey, exceedingly cold and grey” (London 76). In Jack London’s “To Build a Fire”, the man in the story is faced with the ultimate cold in the Yukon climate. He comes across challenges that could be life or death in certain situations, and he must focus and maintain his cool. Eventually, he ends up dying because he wasn’t prepared for the climate he was facing. Three things that got the man killed in the story were that he unsuccessfully built a fire when he needed to, he traveled alone, and he undervalued the advice given to him by the old hoss. The man’s first mistake was unsuccessfully building a fire when he needed to. Instead of using the time he could use his limbs effectively to start a fire in a clear space, he built the fire underneath a tree, which eventually fizzed out. When the fire burned out and had gone out, he had lost most feeling if all in his limbs, and he was scrambling to make a successful fire. He had to move to an open spot, and by the time he found one, he could not successfully light a fire. His limbs were too frozen, and while he tried different methods such as using his mouth and the ice on his leg to start a fire, they all eventually failed. If he was able to build a fire, he would have most likely survived the extreme cold. …show more content…
While the man did handle himself well in most situations, he needed a trail mate. After his fire underneath the tree fails, the man says “If he had only had a trail mate he would have been in no danger now” (London 84). Here, the man clearly states the mistake he made regarding traveling alone. By traveling alone, he sets himself up for a situation just like the one he got himself into, falling into a trap or getting into danger where you need someone else to help you even though there is no one there to help. If he traveled with another person instead of going solo, maybe the man would be better off and