Unfolding In Jack London's To Buid A Fire

Unfolding before the reader is a small but telling glimpse into the unyielding and ultimately fatal thought process of a man who considers gratitude to any other soul a bothersome task. In "To Buid a Fire" (London), the author begins to illuminate the excentricities of a man set on a path, destined to encounter his own mortality. "It was a steep bank, and he paused to breath at the top, excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch" (London p 114). This is the mindset of one who continually denies and or diregards any failings or misjudgements, Surveying the vast expanse of the ominous and ever increasing drifts of snow, set in his ways, he refuses to allow himself to consider the eminent vulnerability and fragility of his present situation. The awareness that he will not reach his destination without forfeiture of his life becomes increasingly apparent. …show more content…
Building a fire, and consuming his lunch serves only to further enhance his confidence in himself. Ignoring the pain and numbness which is accumulating on his face, hands and extremities, he continues to navigate the banks of the river, managing to avoid thin ice at one point by cajoling his dog to continue ahead, and now, more assured of his ability to avoid calamity and reach his destination, if only to sacrifice a few fingers and a measure of his face, he coninues on. After falling through the ice, failing to build a fire, in his last desperate attempt to deny death, he considers sacrificing his dog a good and wise plan. Unable to follow through, and after trying to run to the camp, he encounters his fate, welcomes death, and is still unable to contemplate his own ignorance, the path he has traveled since he realized the ability to take his first