Deepak Chopra once said, “The masculine energy was about survival. The male was the hunter who risked his life and had to be in the fight-flight mode. ” When pertaining to survival, the main character in “To Build a Fire” by Jack London failed to follow three main steps in Laurence Gonzales’ nonfiction trade book, “Deep Survival. ” The main character failed to stay calm, to think, analyze, and plan, and to never give up during his trek through the pure, untrampled white snow. One reason the main character died is because he did not follow the step of staying calm (Gonzales 96).
In his crisis, remaining placid, a detrimental key while in a critical situation, was unachievable by the protagonist of the story. For example, when the man built the second fire under a snow-filled tree, which later released a load of snow onto the fire, extinguishing it, he became panicked. “The man was shocked. It was as though he had just heard his own sentence of death” (London 85). If he were to have stayed calm under this situation, the probability of him surviving would have been more likely. Next, the main character does not remain calm when he could not kill the dog.
When he tried to grasp the dog to kill it, realizing that he could not and letting the dog go, the man became overcome with panic (London 89). Finally, the protagonist failed to stay calm when realization of death came nipping at his heels, and the man was sent into a panic as he began sprinting back to the camp. “This threw him [the main character] into a panic, and he turned and ran along the old, dim trail” (London 89). Failing to remain calm in these critical situations is what led to the main character’s demise.
One additional reason as to why the main character died is because he did not think, analyze, or plan when he was put in hese challenging situations (Gonzales 96). In his crisis, he did not plan ahead when it came to leaving the first fire that he lit in the story. Despite all of the reasons hinting towards the man to stay at the fire, including the dog’s instinct to stay where it is warm, the man left in attempt to return to camp. (London 83). Next, the main character did not analyze the situation he would be put into when he built the second fire under a snow-ridden tree.
“It [the falling of the snow boughs] grew like an avalanche, and it descended upon the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out! (London 85). If the man were to analyze the placement of the fire under the tree, the odds of the fire going out would have been a lot less likely to have occurred. Lastly, the man did not think that the old timer was serious when giving to yield advancement in the harsh environment. “The old-timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the Klondike after fifty-below” (London 85). If the main character were to have fully taken into consideration what the old-timer was advising him to do, then he might have not been put into such a critical situation.
The man’s failure to think, analyze, and plan were what partially led him to his death. Finally, the last reason that the man died was due to the fact that he went against the last rule in Gonzales’ nonfiction trade book — never give up. One reason as to why the main character was brought to his death was when he experienced his final panic. When forced to acknowledge reality for one of the first times on this journey, the man began to think about the lack of feeling and the deathly frozen portions of his body, along with the severity of them (London 90).
If he were to have kept these negative thoughts out of his mind, the main character may have been able to think more clearly and resourcefully in order to find a new source of action. Next, the protagonist gave up when he thought about the boys back at camp finding his body later on. “Suddenly he [the main character] found himself with them [the boys], coming along the trail and looking for himself” (London 90). Allowing himself to be a fallen victim to the negativity accompanied with these thoughts, the man was, in result, giving up.
The last way that the man gave up was when he succumbed to all of the persuasions of the negativity, and he let himself go. “Then the man drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever know” (London 91). This was the last sign of the man giving up; with no hope left for himself, the main character decided to no longer go on with the persistency and determination that he had had in the past. These ways of giving up are what lead the man in London’s story to his destruction.
Coincidentally, all of these reasons previously stated, all add up to become the main reason as to why the protagonist did not survive. The principles of staying calm, thinking, analyzing, and planning, and never giving up are all each in themselves necessary thoughts to have in mind when put into a critical situation as the main character was. If he were to have followed these, and all of the other steps in Laurence Gonzales’ non-fiction trade book, then the man would have more than likely have lived through this journey throughout the sanctioned natural world.
