"To Build a Fire" by Jack London

Imagine going down a trail, in weather colder -50 degrees, to get to your sons at a different camp. Do you think that would be a good idea? That is exactly what the man did in "To Build a Fire" by Jack London. A dog followed the man at his heel, for it the man expected was going to go to a camp, but didn't expect the journey. Jack's short story appeared to be both an irony and a tragedy.

"To Build a Fire" fits all of the tragic plotline. When the man fell through the ice was the world is in conflict. And the rise to power was when the man built a fire. The tragic flaw or human weakness was he built the fire under a snow covered tree. As a result, the tragic fall was when the snow fell and put out the fire. Lastly, the death or death symbolism was when the man froze to death.

Unlike the tragic plotline, the ironic plotline doesn't completely match. I couldn't find a match for the world is in chaos. But I found a match for all the other points. When the man fell through the ice and couldn't start a fire, that was the major conflict. And the death or loss of sanity was when the man froze to death.

Not all of the characteristics matched either. For tragedy, it was realistic, but the man did not seem to be in control. And for irony, it wasn't unrealistic or a nightmare vision of reality and there was no "bad" so bad could not be strong. But the man seemed not to be in control and he was stupid, weak and could do no right. When he tried to kill the dog to keep his hands warm but couldn’t because he forgot about his frost bite, that made me think that he was stupid and can do no right.

There wasn't a lot of symbolism for both tragedy and irony.  The man in the short story mentioned a tale about a guy who survived a blizzard by climbing into an animal carcass, blizzards are ironic symbolism. In the very first sentence, Jack was describing the day as cold and gray, gray is both ironic and tragic symbolism. Jack also said it was winter and mentioned cold wind, both are tragic symbolism. He also described the dog to look just like his cousin the wolf and that is tragic symbolism as well.

"To Build a Fire" by Jack London seemed to be ironic and tragic based off of the plotline, characteristics, and symbolism. The moral of the short story was to use common sense. If it is so cold outside that if you were to spit and it would freeze before it hits the ground, that would be a sign to stay indoors and keep warm. The man should have waited until it got warmer to go visit his sons. He probably would have lived if he did. Using common sense could save your life.