Jack London's Tragedy

Have you ever been in a life or death situation? In this story, “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, it is a story of a man struggling to stay alive while he is in the Yukon and it is 75 below zero, and the only thing with him is his dog. This story is a tragedy.

The main character in this story is called “The Man.” The man is trapped up in the Yukon in 75 below weather. He doesn’t know what to do, in the story it says,” He was without imagination.” Then the dog is there and he is smarter than the man, “This was a matter of instinct.” The symbols in this story are the cold, because that symbols death and danger. Then fire for warmth and survival, and the dog for warmth and natural covering.

This story is a tragedy, the conflict is that it is 75 below zero, and the man is traveling in it. The rise to power is how he built his first fire and that he was making good time. The tragic flaw was that “He was without imagination” meaning that he could not imaging the good or bad things that could happen to him. Then the tragic fall was that he built a fire under a tree but it went out. Then the death was that the man freezes to death.

Jack London's tragedy tells you that you should listen to people sometimes that give you advice and they know what they are talking about. Like how the guy from Sulphar Creek told him not to travel that way. And that you should always be prepared for any circumstances.