What mistake does the man make in building the first fire To build a Fire Jack London?

Answer 1

In build a fire by Jack London, the careless mistake the man makes when he tries to build a fire to thaw out his feet, is that he builds a fire under a snow covered tree and when the fire melted the snow, it came down extinguishing the fire!

Answer 2

In "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, the man makes the mistake of building his fire under a snow-laden tree. As he builds a fire directly underneath the snow-laden tree, the heat from the fire causes the snow to fall and extinguish the fire, leaving him without a heat source in the extreme cold.

Answer 3

"To Build A Fire" is a wonderful short story written by author and journalist Jack London (b.1876-1916). The first version was written in 1902; then second, more famous version, was written in 1908. In this analysis, I will be referring to the version written in 1908.

A story of human durability, instinct, and lack there of, "To Build A Fire" is one of London's most well-known and popular short stories. The setting is the vast landscape of the great and mighty Yukon Territory. A man and his wolf dog are taking a day trip, traveling along the Yukon River to meet up with his fellow companions at a cabin about ten miles away. The atmosphere holds a serene silence, the view is breathtaking, the air: absolutely freezing. Or shall one say, below freezing? 80 degrees or more below freezing to be exact, about -50 degrees Fahrenheit. This man has chosen to walk the harsh, bitter, cold trail for several miles with only a few biscuits for food and a single box of matches. This, however, is not his downfall. His biggest mistake is the most obvious: other than his faithful wolf dog, he is completely alone. Despite an older man's words of wisdom which the man recalls several times: "No man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty below," he shrugs off any worry to keep his pride, and, indifferently, continues on.

After a series of very unfortunate events take place, in which the man falls into the river up to his knees, gets frostbite on feet, and then loses his matches, the man ends up along the side of the trail frost bitten and frozen to death. The wolf dog, his faithful yet despondent companion remains by his side.

"The dog sat facing him and waiting. The brief day drew to a close in a long, slow twilight. There were no signs of a fire to be made, and, besides, never in the dog's experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire. As the twilight drew on, its eager yearning for the fire mastered it, and with a great lifting and shifting of forefeet, it whined softly, then flattened its ears down in anticipation of being chidden by the man. But the man remained silent. Later, the dog whined loudly. And still later it crept close to the man and caught the scent of death. This made the animal bristle and back away. A little longer it delayed, howling under the stars that leaped and danced and shone brightly in the cold sky. Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew, where were the other food-providers and fire-providers."

This story shows more than the brutality sometimes experienced in nature, or the indifferent attitude of the icy North. It opens a window into the human mind, both its instinct and its free-will choice, revealing something very interesting and unique. At the root of every animal, is its instinct to survive, its drive to keep living. Most, especially nonhuman animals, have this strong instinct and use it to its maximum for their own advantage for as long as possible. Others, and these would be mostly human examples, can be either fragile and wimpy, too weak to carry on, or too brutish and vain to put their own pride aside to make decisions which are ultimately going to increase their chances of survival.

The man in this story is precisely that brutish beast. Unconcerned of the chances he took by walking into the subarctic bush by himself, and prideful enough to not travel with other company in such extreme and dangerous conditions, he had complete disregard for his own survival. He was neither strong enough mentally to make rational decisions, nor did he have the right social skills, a necessity which most animals depend on, the "stick together to survive" mentality. Thus, he was cut from the cycle of life, in the never ending game of survival of the fittest.

Answer 4

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