In the story, “To Build a Fire” by Jack London
a man sets out alone in the harsh Yukon Territory weather, and makes several
fatal mistakes that undoubtedly lead to his downfall. These mistakes, which
could have easily been avoided, were due to the man’s poor judgment and
stubbornness. He made many careless errors in preparation for his trek and
during his journey through the Yukon. All in All the man sealed his own fate by
simply being ignorant.
His first mistake was going out alone under 50
below. The man had been warned that it was unwise to travel the Yukon alone in
the harsh winter weather but he ignored this potentially life saving advice and
continued on by himself. If he had brought a partner along with him he may have
survived. When he broke through the ice patch into the sinkhole had he had a
partner, his partner could have built him a fire to keep him from freezing.
However, he disregarded these warnings and voyaged deeper into his own death
trap.
Another thing the man did wrong was
removing his gloves and outerwear repeatedly. When the dog got ice in his paws
the man took off his gloves to scrape out the ice. Little did he know that the
moment he exposed his fingers to the cold air he began freezing them. He should
have made something to cover his moth and cheeks too. The harsh, cold wind
stung his cheeks and started freezing them along with his mouth and long amber
beard of frozen chewing tobacco. Obviously if he had been more prepared he may
have been able to survive.
The most fatal mistake the man made was
building the fire under a tree full of snow. If the snow hadn’t fallen on the
fire he would have been able to stay warm, dry off, and continue on his
journey. Instead he chose to build his lifeline under a tree and proceeded to
smother all hope of getting out of the Yukon alive, with snow. Had he chose a
different location to build his fire the mad could have regained his strength
and endure the rest of his Trek through the Yukon.
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