To Build a Fire - Man is Foolish :: London To Build a Fire Essays

To Build a Fire - Man is Foolish         How humankindy measure have you seen birds flying south for the winter?  They donot demo somewhere or use some computer to know that they must fly to survive.In Jack Londons To Build a Fire, we see how that man issometimes foolish.  The man, who is walking in seventy-five degrees below zeroweather, lets his learned behavior override his instinct.  Therefore, he dies.Londons etymon is that no matter how intelligent corporation becomes, we as aspecies should never discard our basic instincts.         In the beginning of the tale we see that the man realizes it is chilly,but only sees this as a concomitant and not a danger.  The man spit on the ground totest how cold it was.  His test taught him that it was colder than he had first notion, but he never thought of that as a danger only as a reality.  Thatthere should be anything more to it than that was a thought that never enteredhis head (119).  To many times modern man plods along oblivious to the realitythat lies one moment or misstep away (Votleler 272).         The man sees that he is feeling the effects of the cold more and more ashe goes along, but more than ever he pushes on.  Several times he comments thatthe cold is making his hands and feet numbed, and frostbite is killing hischeeks.  He thinks What were frosted cheek?  A bit painful, that was all. . .(120).  Again he chose to ignore an instinct that would have saved him.         The dog, on the other hand, although direct by his learned behaviorstill retains his instincts.  The dog follows the man throughout his ill fadedjourney, but after the man perishes he relies upon his instincts to survive.This is witnessed in the closing curtain paragraph by the statement Then it turnedand trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew, where there wereother food providers and fire providers (129).         The theme of Londons To Build a Fire is how we should all take heed