Traveling Through the Humble Trails of Yukon
A nameless man hikes through the trails of Yukon while being surrounded by the chilliness of 75 degrees below zero. As his fingers are exposed to the horrid chills, numbness starts to set in, forcing him to scream inside. The cold is piercing everywhere in his body, shooting like arrows from his nose to his toes. Making a fire is the only way to go, but it's nearly impossible; as taking off his mittens were no option. The short story, "To Build a Fire", written by Jack London, explains the story of how a middle aged man takes his shivering journey up to camp, walking on the lonely trails of Yukon with just a hunting dog and some biscuits for survival. In my words, "To Build A Fire" is an interesting tragedy involving conflicts that teach the man an important lesson.
Seeing that it was 75 below zero outside, and in reality, it could be that cold in the Yukon, this story is realistic. The main character, who is the man, is in control and makes bad decisions. For example, the Old Timer from Sulpher Creek tried to tell this man that traveling in the Yukon in this weather is dangerous, death may occur from this; the Old Timer kept on trying to stress this to the man, which he remembers as:
That man from Sulpher Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country. And he had laughed at him at the time! That showed one must not be too sure of things. There was no mistake about it, it was cold (136).
The man's thought process proves the Old Timer was trying to strike any and all wisdom into the man. After all, the Old Timer was very wise. The man laughing at the Old Timer confirms that the man is to shrewd to accept that he may be wrong. As the main character himself says, "That showed one must not be too sure of things.” This shows the main character's bad decisions. Something will happen to the man, because it was cold.
All this thought from the man, brings out even more why this story is a tragedy. Every part of the nameless man was freezing and there was nothing he could do about it because he just had to get to camp; this is the main conflict. The first fire calms the man down, and he feels somewhat relaxed; this is the man's rise to power. Now, before setting up the second fire, the man was just about ready to scream from the excruciating pain that had reached his fingers. However, to keep warm, the second fire was necessary. However, his tragic flaw just came into play. The man's mittens could not come off; he would not take them off his hands. How is he going to light the matches, for the fire? He must think! Plan ahead! However, for the man things obviously, end up in disaster. The man accidently lights the fire under a tree, and an avalanche of branches collapse on top of the flame. Disastrous things happen to people who rush in life; don't look at the future, think about what could happen now, in the present, and plan. Things now start to get worse and worse as the tragic fall comes into play. The man is cursed with wet feet, fire under the tree, which leads up to no chance of the man getting a warm fire. With the matches in his hand, the man now has burned fingers. Unfortunately, from all the man's idiotic actions, he ends dead, from the chilly climate of the Yukon. A painful death from hypothermia finally smacked some sense into the man.
An array of conflicts happen in this story, which involved the man, the dog, and the wise Old-Timer from Sulpher Creek. First of all, one of the man's problems, traveling through the humble trails of Yukon while it's 70 below zero. He must avoid getting wet feet from the damp snow, he must avoid getting eaten alive from the frostbite weather, and he must avoid a dreadful death from hypothermia. The cold was like icy hands gripping every part of his body and eating it away, making all skin go numb. To keep warm from all this, the man would go and build a fire. It was the man's priority; that is, if he doesn't drop dead first. As a middle aged man traveling through the treacherous trails of the Yukon, warmth and hunger are two of the most important things. The man is in this critical situation; but then, he gets an idea. Seeing that there was a hunting dog right next to him, he debated whether or not he should kill the dog for its fur and use it for heat:
The sight of the dog put a wild idea into is head. He remembered the tale of the man, caught in the blizzard, who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass, and so was saved. He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them. Then he could build another fire (140).
Choosing to kill the dog to survive was clever; although, the man had some heart. All he could do was hold the dog close and sit there. He slowly realized that he couldn't kill it. He couldn't take out his sheath knife; he couldn't let the dog go for his own selfish reasons. As he watched the dog whine and struggle, he came to understanding that killing the poor dog would give him a shred of guilt inside.
The humble trails of the Yukon taught the man so much; how he should not always act so clever, and that he should always be prepared for any situation; especially if it’s the chilly Yukon. The Old Timer from Sulpher Creek did tell the man about the dangers of wandering the wintry whereabouts of the forest. However, the man didn’t listen. Lesson #1: Always take the advice of people who know better, and in this case, it was the Old Timer from Sulpher Creek. However, it turns out that the Old Timer was right! The man's poor fingers started to drift into numbness, and his entire body had entered an icy state of being. While the man was recollecting the words that the Old Timer had said, it was almost as if another conscience had appeared in his mind, and said, "That showed one must not be too sure of things" (136). When the man lit the second fire, the rush of snow toppled over it, and the man was shaken by it. Whenever problems like this happen, in this case, an unexpected destruction of the fire; the most helpful thing you can do is be prepared for a situation like this. Even though, it may have taken the man by surprise, the smartest thing he could have done would be to think of other solutions, possibly another way to overcome this tragedy of the put-out fire.
In conclusion, the short story, "To Build a Fire", follows the plotline of a tragedy which includes conflicts that teach the man a life lesson. Even though the man made some useless choices, I can understand why he did. Sometimes, when you need to get somewhere urgently, you do whatever it takes to accomplish that task. Unfortunately, it had to be a very cold mission, but he made it there, and peacefully passed away. He died a chilly and peaceful death as an accomplishment of achieving his goal of finally reaching his ultimate destination: death.
Word Choice: Ready, Set, Ski!
Swish; the sound of skis as they carefully brush the snow. Click; hearing the poles tap together to create an artificial plastic sound when ready to go. Wind; the feeling of the thin atmosphere as it crosses my face, blowing everywhere. I can't wait to get off the chairlift and have the time of my life. Look around, a rambunctious hill, many skiers crowd around the mountain; a swarm as large as locusts. Sliding those goggles on and putting a smile on my face. Feeling at the top of the world as descending down the peak, it feels magnificent; almost as if I was doing it subconsciously. How I felt was indescribable, the emotions that were shuffling around in my head; I will make it down that hill and still be optimistic about this overwhelming opportunity whether I collapse or not. I didn't really realize how much more distance of this hill would await my presence. Keeping all this mind, I knew that my task was simple. Ready, Set, Ski! From that moment on, I felt like an expert, capable of anything. Impediments of ice block my path, restricting me to continue on; panic rushes up and down my veins waiting for me to calm down. I felt as if I was in the arctic, the fear of suddenly hyperventilating sometimes throws me off; but all I need to think about is that tremendous win I would receive when I had finally finished. However, all that was challenging when skiing across a barren land; the tension builds up. I mumble to myself, it was nearly impossible. The cold was an icy hand on my throat while I was gliding down and about through those hills. It was almost as if the wind's tiny fingers wanted to restrict me. Yet, I push them off. No one is going to prevent me from claiming that award; I can do it!
New Kid
As the moving trucks came, it was a horrible sight to see, I couldn't even stick around for the packing. My life was ruined, just as I figured out I had to move; again. Wisconsin was on its way to being my new home. However, every time, there was one thing that really got me. I felt invisible, how any other new kid felt.
People ignored me in the halls. No one stopped to say "Hi", it was really quite depressing. Loneliness was filled inside me, and I didn't enjoy any part of it. Why does this happen to me? How is it that every new kid gets treated the same way? We aren't that different, I just stepped into this school and no one can introduce themselves to me. Whenever I walked into a new class, the students would stare at me, the popular kids would eye me. Come on, I am just like any other kid in this school. STOP STARING! Seriously, what’s their problem? Anyway, I guessed that I would probably be the one to introduce myself to others. So, I did. Of course, some would just turn away hoping I wouldn't approach them. Through the constant stares, a few people seemed to notice my presence. Finally! Someone who looks like they want to meet me. We all meet, exchange names, phone numbers, email addresses, and over a course of days, I start to fit in. As hard as it was, I did it. Now, I have some of the greatest friends ever.
