A Lack of Respect

A detailed Summary of A Lack of Respect


"To Build a Fire" by Jack London is a short story about a man traveling along the Yukon River in the bitter winter weather. While warned against traveling alone in the frigid cold, he ventures out to meet his companions at a remote camp many miles away, with only his dog. Overcome by nature's power, he eventually perishes along the way, leaving his four-legged partner to complete the journey alone. The story displays how the forces of nature can surprisingly overwhelm even the most confident of men.

The traveler, or also referred to as a chechaquo, is the main character of London's tale. He is a quick and alert man, yet lacks imagination to see things in the big picture. We know that he knows the ways of the arctic environment, but it becomes obvious that he has never experienced a situation like this. The man is observant and quite resourceful, exemplified when he coaxes the dog to walk ahead of him across the ice, in case of soft spots. A combination of arrogance and confidence are apparent with almost every thought he has. Even when faced with his own immortality, the man fights to contain himself and remain calm. London uses the dog traveling with the man to support some of the less obvious p


oints in the story. We know from the dog's thoughts that the climate is not simply cold, but closer to unbearable.

London writes, "To Build a Fire" from the complete omniscient point of view. We are aware of what the Traveler is seeing, hearing, doing and thinking. We know things that happened before and what will probably happen after his death. This view allows us to gather facts, such as the seriousness of the temperature when the dog is depressed about traveling and knows that they should not be doing so. "Never in the dogs experience had it known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire." shows the dog observing the man dying in the snow, in which it reflects on its past experiences and judges that something is wrong with the man. After catching the scent of death from the man it trots away in the direction of the camp. The reader normally would just see the dog walking away, yet the narration allows us to know what the dog was thinking.

The setting of the story is the Klondike along the Yukon River in the cold of winter. London gives the reader an extremely detailed picture of the place in which this all is happening. "Day had broken cold and grey, exceedingly cold and grey" is

Some common words found in the essay are:
Yukon River, Build Fire, Jack London, build fire, lack respect, , yukon river, cold grey, snow fire, story traveler, forces nature,

Approximate Word count = 822
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

join now Save Paper

Related Essays

  • Women ... This mans lack of respect toward women, or Africanamp39s for that matter, does correspond with the time period, as does Marlowamp39s lack of respect. ... 516 words
  • 2 Gallants ... social ladder. This shows a complete lack of respect for females and epitomizes the two gallantsamp39 conduct. Corley tells Lenehan ... 1377 words
  • Why It Took So Long For Hamlet To Kill Claudius ... Throughout the whole play Hamlet taunts Claudius due to his lack of respect. In every act Hamlet always has some little comment to taunt Claudius. ... 797 words
  • Trifles An Oldfashioned Play with Modern Notions ... woman and their domain: the kitchen. The menamp39s lack of respect will be their down fall in the end. Had they taken time to notice ... 864 words
  • shylock ... Throughout the novel, Achebe demonstrates the lack of respect for women and mistreatment of them, but manages to portray women, as mothers, in the highest ... 1503 words

Professional Essays

  • SCHOOL VIOLENCE and Some Causes ... Moreover, many research studies which have examined the causes of school violence indicate that a lack of respect for human life has contributed to the ever ... 2248 words
  • Abortion ... Abortionampquot. Abortion shows a lack of respect for the authority of God, and human beings should not try to play God. Finally, abortion ... 1368 words
  • SelfRespect and Action ... Such behavior would eventually lead to a lack of selfrespect and a lessened level of selfesteem. Bibliography: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Shakespeare. Ed. ... 493 words
  • MESSAGE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ... Rather, it has been a long history of distrust and a lack of respect that has indeed been institutionalized and perpetuated from generation to generation. ... 1220 words
  • Erin Brokovich ... No job, no money, three children, and a lack of respect for much aside from her figure, Erin has sacrificed enough in life and is not prepared to go soft on ... 2771 words
  • Lack of Unified Action of the Oppressed ... With respect to the foregoing, Bendit and Gaiser have stated that complex processes and mechanisms involving modernization and technology eg, social changes ... 935 words


Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.
Home Join Now Support
Acceptable Use Policy About us FAQ
All papers are for research and reference purposes only!
© 2002-2009 DirectEssays.com. All Rights Reserved.