Reality And Reality In Jack London's 'To Build A Fire'

Many authors and poets often manipulate stories and bend the rules when it comes to telling a story from a character 's perspective. The characters ability to detach themselves from reality and be present in the their own little world in which they created, can sometimes have benefits but can also be dangerous . In Jack London’s short story “ To Build a fire” The main character is able to isolate himself from outside influences and is able to deny reality. In the short story “ Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The narrator was also detached from reality but was trapped in a room with only her imagination that was taken over by a yellow wallpaper. In both cases reality was merely a phase in which both characters were not a part …show more content…
He travels with a stray wolf dog whose intentions are also seeking warmth from a fire which in his case comes from the man. The unnamed main character is so confident in himself, that he does not use logic for his decisions but instead uses his ego to believe that he is above the situation. The story quotes “But all of this- the mysterious, far reaching hairline trail, the absence of sun from the sky, the tremendous cold, and the strangeness of it all- made no impression on the man” This quote illustrates perfectly the man 's ability to detach from reality and stay in his own world of …show more content…
At first she referred to the wallpaper as such plain ugly and very distasteful, but as her condition progressed the wallpaper soon began to dominate and take over the narrator 's imagination and mind. At this point we are seeing the narrator leaving the real world and been taken forcefully by her own mind and imagination into a world, which she created herself. The detachment from the reality has serious damaging effects to the narrator’s imagination. “ There are things in the wallpaper that nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day.” (Gilman pg 231). At this point the narrator has knowledge of her detachment from reality but also realizes that she is the only one who is able to see the things that she sees. She begins to see a women who paces back and forth and is trapped by the yellow wallpaper and is unable to escape.The author puts a symbolism in the wallpaper by revealing in the end, that the women who is trapped inside the wallpaper is the narrator herself. In this case her ability to detach from the real world is an advantage which only further enhances her comprehension of the situation. Her illusions show her the reality of how she is actually imprisoned by her husband in this house and is