How many times have you seen birds flying south for the winter? They do not read
somewhere or use some computer to know that they must fly to survive. In Jack London's
"To Build a Fire", we see how that mans intelligence is sometimes foolish. The man, who
is walking in seventy-five degrees below zero weather, lets his learned behavior override
his instinct. Therefore, he dies. London's theme is that no matter how intelligent
society becomes, we as a species should never discard our basic instincts.
In the beginning of the tale we see that the man realizes it is cold, but only sees this
as a fact and not a danger. The man spit on the ground to test how cold it was. His
test taught him that it was colder than he had first thought, but he never thought of
that as a danger only as a reality. "That there should be anything more to it than that
was a thought that never entered his head" (119). To many times modern man plods along
oblivious to the reality that lies one moment or misstep away (Votleler 272).
The man sees that he is feeling the effects of the cold more and more as he goes along,
but more than ever he pushes on. Several times he comments that the cold is making his
hands and feet numbed, and frostbite is killing his cheeks. 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 guided by his learned behavior still retains his
instincts. The dog follows the man throughout his ill faded journey, but after the man
perishes he relies upon his instincts to survive. This is witnessed in the last
paragraph by the statement
"Then it turned and trotted up the trail in the direction of the camp it knew, where
there were other food providers and fire providers" (129).
The theme of London's "To Build a Fire" is how we should all take heed to modern
knowledge and learned behavior has its benefits, but our primal instincts should never
have
ignored. The man in the story had lots of knowledge but neglected to pay attention to
his "sixth sense." The dog on the other hand, followed as long as he could but then let
his instincts carry him to safety. We can never have enough knowledge to replace the
survival skill that nature has provided us.
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