Jack London "to build a fire"

Jack London's  "To build a fire"  is a very sad story. It talks about a man in the Yukon  going to meet some of his friends. He is new to the Yukon and knows the dangers of being out in the cold for too long.  The man begins to build a fire to keep him and his dog warm so that he can protect his ligaments from the harsh winter that the Yukon brings. The man had taken limbs from a spruce tree and had weaken the structural integrity of the tree. He finally gets his fire going and as soon as he takes his moccasins off, a pile of snow from atop the trees falls onto his fire and puts it out.

Henry David Thoreau said something that I believe the man of this story should have heard. "Beware of all enterprises that require a new set of clothes"(Thoreau). If this man had heard this then I think he would have not have died as quickly. The man would have had an extra set of clothes, so when he got wet he would have been able to change into a set of clothes that were dry.  

I think that this short story leans more towards the natural side of Emerson  and Thoreau. This story is very  descriptive of the winter and of the Yukon. Emerson  and  Thoreau valued nature throughout their lives as well as many other things.  "Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood"("EMERSON - NATURE--Web Text.").  

"EMERSON - NATURE--Web Text." Virginia Commonwealth University. Web. 11 Feb. 2012.

Thoreau. BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 09 Mar. 2012.