Nature- to Build a Fire free essay sample

These two authors apply a unique perspective of how nature can apply to everyday life. The aspects of interacting with nature and human emotions analyzed and examined in the works of Jack London and Henry David Thoreau. Nature can be a dreaded enemy and can drain life out of humans and animals that are not aware and cautious. In the short story â€Å"To Build a Fire† by Jack London, nature sets and controls the tone throughout and interacts with the man and his dog. In the story, a man and his dog are traveling through the Yukon, in Alaska, to meet the man’s friends in a cabin miles away. They encounter an enormous amount of adversity and pain while trying to reach his friends. The Yukon is one of the coldest places on Earth and the man and his dog have to travel for hours in the bitter cold. They discover the power and ruthlessness of nature head on in their journey. The man had an estimation of how cold it really is while he and his dog were walking, the temperature is, â€Å"Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost. Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable, that was all. It did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon mans frailty in general, able to live within certain narrow limits of cold† (London). This quote shows that the man believes that he is stronger and more powerful than the cold. Nature interacts with the man and slowly causes him to loose his human sense. The man becomes mentally and physically weak and eventually dies from frostbite and vulnerability to nature. Nature’s interaction with the man and his dog clearly set the scene for the whole story. On the other hand, nature can be a person’s best friend and fantasy. In the book Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Thoreau becomes one with nature and lives on the shores of Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. He moves to the woods and lives by himself and observes nature first hand. Thoreau states exactly why he goes to the woods, â€Å"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach† (Thoreau 406). Thoreau believes that nature is an essential part of his life. Thoreau moves to the shores of Walden Pond because he believes that he needs to simplify his life, believing that the best way to live was uncommitted, free, and as long as possible. Rather than nature being a threatening part of life, as in â€Å"To Build a Fire†, Walden describes nature as calm and inviting. Thoreau values the opportunity to control what he does and when he does it. He knows that he is free in nature and enjoys the fact that he can go fishing on the river and exploring in the woods, whenever he desires. Thoreau interacts and connects with nature in a calm and productive way. The way that nature interacts with Thoreau creates a distinct tone for the whole story. Jack London bases his short story on the fact that nature is always pushing man to his limits. James R. Giles, in his Introduction to American Realism, states London inspired a fiction that can best be described as the naturalistic and imperialistic epic that has been a mainstay of twentieth-century American popular literature and culture† (Giles). This shows that London encompasses all of the assets to be known as a naturalist writer. London creates a way to make readers feel scared, cold, and lost in Jill Widdicombe’s overview of â€Å"To Build a Fire†. Widdicombe describes how London incorporates the story of a Yup’ik (a people group indigenous to Alaska) family traveling throughout Alaska in a car, when they become jammed in a snow bank and have nowhere to go being far from any major roads. While in temperatures below negative sixty degrees fahrenheit, the family tries to build a bonfire to keep warm, but their attempt at the fire fails. When the attempt at building the fire fails the family has nothing else to save them and eventually all die because of the horrendous cold and hypothermia. In addition to the aspect of nature, the aspect of the family being alone in nature also applies to the transcendental approach London is using. In â€Å"To Build a Fire†, London’s uses his love and knowledge of nature to provide a naturalist approach. London describes how a man has to survive in terribly cold temperatures, â€Å"When it is seventy five below zero, a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire – that is, if his feet are wet† (London), showing that nature is extremely powerful and man has no time for istakes when nature is at full force. London’s naturalist writing style helps bring out the real human characteristics in all of his characters. The naturalist approach to incorporate the outdoors and the ideals of nature, add tremendously to the short story â€Å"To Build a Fire†. In contrast, Henry David Thoreau shows the aspects of transcendentalism throughout his book Walden. According to Perry D. Westbrook, an Amer ican Social philosopher, â€Å"Walden is a major literary expression of New England transcendentalism. It records its authors experiences and thoughts while living for two years and two months in a hut that he had built on the wooded shores of Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts† (Westbrook). Thoreau values the simplicity and pureness of nature rather than the complex hustle of normal society. The transcendental value of being alone in nature is reflected by Thoreau when he says, â€Å"But I would say to my fellows, once for all, as long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail† (Thoreau 405). Thoreau wants his readers to live free and to the full potential and he believes that can only be done alone and in nature. According to Overview: Walden†, Thoreau â€Å"urges his readers to simplify their lives† (Overview: Walden. ), and to live as one in nature. Thoreau perfectly imitates the fundamental aspects of transcendental writing in Walden. Jack London uses his imagery in â€Å"To Build a Fire† to show the emotions of his characters, painting a picture in the heads of his readers. London uses his words in a unique way to show how human emotions are in fact a reflection of nature. Throughout the story, the man struggles with the fierce cold in the Yukon territory and continuously tries to complete his goal of reaching his friends miles down the trail. The man tries for the last time to light the match to start a fire, â€Å"At last, when he could endure no more, he jerked his hands apart. The blazing matches fell sizzling into the snow† (London), showing that his emotions and body could endure no more and that nature had taken its toll on the man. Nature and its powerful ways, throughout â€Å"To Build a Fire†, cause the man to build up numerous emotions that compile and eventually lead to his death. Human emotions are a reflection and response to the brutal effects of nature. In Walden, Henry David Thoreau also expresses that human emotions are a reflection of nature. According to Kent C. Ryden an American scholar, â€Å"First, Thoreau sought to live a life grounded imaginatively, ethically, and sensuously in the textures of the natural world. Second, over the course of his career he became more and more interested in natural life itself, in understanding how nature worked† (Ryden). Throughout most of Walden, Thoreau’s mood is directly related with the weather in Walden Pond. During the winter season, Thoreau’s mood is calm and silent due to the gray skies and quiet woods; he has few visitors and is left alone to think during the winter months. Nature plays a pivotal role in expressing human emotions in â€Å"To Build a Fire† and Walden. Nature is a defining force in the lives of every single person living on this magnificent planet. The weather controls what people do and when they can do what they desire, no person in their right mind will go on a jog in the middle of a tsunami. Jack London brings out the brutal force of nature in his short story â€Å"To Build a Fire†. On the other hand, Henry David Thoreau brings out the calm and in depth part of nature in his book Walden. Even though the way nature acts is completely different in these two stories, many comparisons can be made. The aspects of involving nature and becoming one with nature show transcendentalist and naturalist values in the respective stories. Also, the reflection between human emotions and nature are demonstrated throughout â€Å"To Build a Fire† and Walden. Jack London and Henry David Thoreau show exemplary skill to be able to apply such detailed aspects of nature in each of their stories. Word Count: 1621 Works Cited Giles, James R. Introduction. The Naturalistic Inner-City Novel in America: Encounters with the Fat Man. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995. 1-14. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 182. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Literature Resource Center. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. London, Jack. To Build a Fire. N. p. : n. p. , n. d. JackLondons. net. Web. 12 Mar. 2013. Ryden, Kent C. Thoreaus landscape within: how he came to know nature, and through it came to know himself. American Scholar 74. 1 (2005): 132+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. Thoreau, Henry D. Walden. Prentice Hall Literature. Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes: The American Experience. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. 400-11. Print. Westbrook, Perry D. Walden: Overview. Reference Guide to American Literature. Ed. Jim Kamp. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. Widdicombe, Jill. An overview of To Build a Fire,. Gale Online Encyclopedia. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Literature Resource Center. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. Overview: Walden. Nonfiction Classics for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Nonfiction Works. Ed. David M. Galens, Jennifer Smi th, and Elizabeth Thomason. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 6 Feb. 2013.