The Existential Theme of London’s To Build A Fire Essay -- Build Fire

The Existential Theme of London’s â€Å"To Build A Fire"  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Jack London’s short story, â€Å"To Build a Fire,† is the tragic tale of a man who decides to travel alone through the hostile environment of the Yukon in sub-freeing temperatures and falls victim to the unrelenting and unforgiving power of nature. During his journey, the man gets his feet wet as he falls through the ice into the water of a hot spring (London 122). Because of the severity of the cold, some â€Å"one hundred and seven degrees below [the] freezing point,† the man’s life depends upon his ability to promptly light a fire to keep his feet from freezing (122-23). After one, half-successful fire-starting endeavor, and several other pitiful attempts, the hopelessness of the man’s lone struggle against the hostile environment of the Yukon begins to become apparent. After a lengthy episode of panic in which the man tries desperately to return the feeling to his extremities by â€Å"running around like a chicken with its head cut off† (128), the man at last â€Å"grows calm and decides to meet death with dignity . . .† (Labor 66). The story’s central theme is one portrayed by many existentialist writers—that man lives a solitary existence which is subject to the relentless, unforgiving forces of nature; an ever so subtle part of this theme is that it is man’s goal to find meaning in his existence. The word existentialist, as well as the subject of existentialism itself, evades definition. Davis McElroy points out this problem by comparing the act of defining existentialism to the act of trying â€Å"to explain human existence in a single sentence . . .† (xi). For the sake of brevity, perhaps a short, simple definition would be best; according to the American Heritage Dictionar... ...s artful placement of irony within the story. Works Cited â€Å"Existentialism.† The American Heritage Dictionary. 3rd ed. New York: Dell, 1994. Hendricks, King. Jack London: Master Craftsman of the Short Story. Logan: Utah State U P,   Ã‚  Ã‚   1966. Rpt. In Jack London: Essays in Criticism. Ed. Ray Wilson Ownbey. Santa Barbara:   Ã‚  Ã‚   Peregrine, 1978. 13-30. Labor, Earle. Jack London. New York: Twayne, 1974. London, Jack. â€Å"To Build a Fire.† Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama.   Ã‚  Ã‚   6th ed. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York: Harper Collins, 1995. 118-29. McElroy, Davis Dunbar. Existentialism and Modern Literature. Westport: Greenwood, 1968. Perry, John. Jack London: An American Myth. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1981. Walcutt, Charles Child. Jack London. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1966.