"Born in 1876 in San Francisco to an unstable mother and a father who refused to claim him, London was raised mainly by a family friend and a stepsister. From the age of eleven, he worked to earn money to help put food on his family's table" (Wilhelm, 601). Perhaps this is what inspired Jack London to write his short story, "To Build a Fire." Or maybe it was the middle of his life that inspired him--rather than the beginning--that inspired him to write this short story. Whether it was his childhood or his present condition, Jack London wrote a short story that dealt with man and nature, and in doing so, was put in the sub genre of realism, naturalism. Jack London had to work hard to make a living, all through out his life. He had a rough childhood, and his adulthood was only filled with more pressure, more debt, more hard work, and more emotional trauma. "In 1913, shortly before he was to move into the newly completed house, it burned down. The fire devastated London both emotionally and financially... Three years later, plagued by sever health problems and financial difficulties, london died." (Wilhelm, 601)
"To Build A Fire," is about the journey of a man through the rough conditions of nature. He is the average man, a common character to naturalism, and being so, he does not know much about nature. His task is simple in word, hard in action. That task is to survive. He goes through coldness, starvation, and many other obstacles thrown out by nature. "He held on through the level stretch of woods for several miles and dropped down a bank to the frozen bed of a small stream. This was Henderson Creek, and he knew he was ten miles form the forks... The furrow of the old sled trail was plainly visible, but a dozen inches of snow covered the marks of the last runners. In a month no man had come up or down that silent creek. The man held steadily on." (London, 605-606) This shows how the man kept going, even though it was freezing outside. The man was brave enough to challenge the weather and nature. This shows his strength and courage, something that is also common to naturalism. However, sometimes his bravery escaped him, showing how nature sometimes got the better of the main character. "Sometimes they were alternate layers of water and ice skin, so that when one broke through he kept on breaking through for a while, sometimes wetting himself to the waist. That was why he had shied in such panic. He had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice skin. And to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger." (London, 606)
The main character in this short story does not really respect nature, which is why, according to naturalism, that he is constantly faced with the hardships of the weather and nature. Even though he keeps on going and struggles to survive, every day he is closer to freezing or running out of food or even drowning. Nature continues to backlash at him, which is a characteristic of naturalism. He continues to persevere showing that he is one of the "fittest" and is determined to survive, another characteristic of naturalism. It is a constant clashing, and the victor--nature or the main character--will prove to be the strongest, which again is another characteristic of naturalism. These are all reasons of why "To Build a Fire," by Jack London is categorized as naturalism, a sub genre of realism.
Works Cited
London, Jack. "To Build a Fire." Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. pg. 603-614.
Wilhelm, Jeffery. "Meet Jack London."Glencoe American Literature. comp. Wilhelm, Jeffery. McGraw Hill. Columbus, OH. 2009. pg. 601-602.
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