The man who could have survived

Jack London was a very adventurous man. His writings came from the places he traveled. He loved going on adventures. His love for writing came along with the many stories that he wrote. “To build a fire” was written from a journey he had also gone on in the Yukon Trail and almost died from lack of nutrition. He wrote this story about a man and his dog and in the story Jack even let the dogs feelings come out about the journey that he and the man take together. The man ends up in a struggle for his life for being arrogant and stupidity. There are three things he could have avoided to end up the way he did. First he should not have gone alone; next he should have carried more necessities, and last he should have though more of his short journey.


The man should have taken company to travel with him instead of just him and his dog. It is common sense to know if your spit freezes in mid-air before it hits the ground that a person should not be traveling in weather that is fifteen below zero. The man takes his dog but that is not going to save his life if he has frost bite or if he falls through the frozen water. He was just being an arrogant man who couldn’t wait to make it to his friends and wasn’t worried about the consequences of traveling in that cold of weather. In Jack London’s life he made a decision to live in Alaska on the Yukon trial but is taken care of before he dies.


If the man would have taken the necessities that were necessary for this trip, he might have lived. The man is traveling and as he is being careful to walk he steps in a water hole that looks like snow. He is angry at himself for letting this happen because he knew better than to let his feet become wet. If he had brought along another pair of socks he could put them on. In another part of the story he decides that he is becoming hungry but has only brought a biscuit and was going to eat it later. Since his feet have gotten wet though he has to build the fire now and warm himself and decides to go ahead and eat, even though he did not bring anything for the dog. If he had more food he could eat some now and some later on the journey. The man also struggles building a fire, his first two fires worked ok, but as the night went on and he realizes that he will not make it to his destination before he wanted to he has to build more fires to keep warm. In his last fire he drops all of his matches and he can’t light the fire and the snow from the tree falls and puts out the fire he did have. His feet began to freeze and the man lies there waiting to die. He could have brought more matches or a lighter and something more to get his fires started.


Last the man should have thought about his journey more in depth and the consequences instead of thinking nothing could go wrong on this short journey. As a man he never thought that this would be his last journey. He would never see his buddies that he longed to be with and his last minute solutions never worked. He thought about killing his dog at one point and get inside of him to keep warm but he talked in the wrong manner to the dog, so the dog would not come to his owner. He forgot at times that his hands were frozen and when trying to grab matches or his gloves he could not feel them unless he looked at his hand touching what he was trying to grab. He could have avoided death in so many ways if he would have prepared for this journey instead of being stubborn and deciding he can handle nature alone when he really couldn’t.


This story was sad but the man had brought it on himself. Jack London also traveled the Yukon Trail in Klondike and almost did not survive from malnutrition because he did not have the things he needed in order to survive. The dog in the end makes it to the campfire alive, but he makes it alone without his owner. The man should have thought about his journey instead of reacting on his own feelings. He chose to go out and face nature alone, when in the ends nature took his life.


1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_London#Personal_background

2. Dr. Stasz, Clarice A biography of Jack London 23 Feberuary 2007 http://london.sonoma.edu/

3. Wilson, Margie and Mike Wilson. Who Was Jack London? 23 Feberuary2007 .

A women's dreams dead

As a wife, sister, and friend, it is difficult to be women some days. We feel over frustrated about small mishaps. We don’t feel this way because we want to but sometimes men just drive us to become that way, like in “The story of an hour” by Kate Chopin a women’s husband dies but instead of being sad she is a little relieved.


Mrs. Louise Mallard has a heart condition and as she is at home her sister Josephine and her friend Richards comes to tell her the news that her husband has been killed in a train accident. Louise acts much differently than I would if I had just found out that my husband had been killed. As I began reading the story I was upset that a wife had lost her husband, I couldn’t imagine hearing the news of my husband’s death. Mrs. Mallard cries a little in front of Josephine then locks herself in her room to sit and stare out the window.

In the room she can be upset or happy about the accident, no one can see her. She can feel think about the “death” of her husband anyway she wants. As she sits in the rocking chair and stares out the window she feels something coming toward her but she is not sure what it is, she can’t see it but she can feel it. My feelings are maybe that this feeling is her wishing she could feel sorry about her husband’s death but she just feels happy and relieved. This story talks about the couple but it doesn’t say how their marriage was or how they treated each other so we never really know why Louise feels the way she does about Brently Mallard’s death.

“Free, Free,” is repeated over and over by Louise. I was shocked that she felt free from her marriage. Mrs. Mallard maybe had an unhappy marriage and finally it was over. She states that she can start living for herself, doing what makes her happy and not what her husband wanted her to do anymore. As a child growing up my mother always put my sister and I before herself, she always bought us new toys or clothes and never purchased anything she wanted.

Women tend to put everyone else’s needs and wants ahead of their own. I think that Mrs. Mallard was in an unhappy marriage that her husband never knew about. She may have put his wants and needs before her own and now it is her time to do the things she has wanted to do. When she walks out her room after thinking about Brently’s death she begins to walk down the stairs when a key unlocks their home and her husband walks in. Mrs. Louise Mallard dies of a heart disease after her husband walk through the door. The story says it was “a joy that kills,” which makes me think what that means. She became so happy of the life that she had wanted so long and she has her time when her husband comes home instead to his wife who dies. He never even knew that he was considered dead.

Gabriel the emotional

"The Dead"

James Joyce

Two sisters, Julie and Kate, hold the Morkan Annual dance every year in Ireland. The dance started when their brother passed and they moved to Usher’s island and started the dance. As Julie and Kate were upstairs getting ready their caretaker Lily lets in the guest. They were especially excited when Gabriel Conroy and his wife Gretta showed up, their favorite nephew.
This story has many characters but Gabriel is the main character who has a “riot of emotions”(Ali 85) In his first emotional conversion while he is taking off his goloshes and coat he begins to question her about school when she replies “O no, sir,” “I’m done schooling this year and more.” (Joyce 298) Gabriel then asks her a “well – meant question”(Ali 83) about planning to wed soon Lily answers him back in a bitter tone, which shocks Gabriel, and he is colored. I don’t think Lily intentionally answered him that way but she was just astonished with his question as he was her answer.
In Gabriel’s next emotional encounter, he talks with Molly Ivors. He is partnered with her for a dance and during this she starts their conversation with “ I have a crow to pluck with you.” (Joyce 303) She questions him about a newspaper that he writes for. He never put his name on the paper just his initials G.C. Molly talks about how she is ashamed of him for writing for the newspaper and then says, “I didn’t think you were a West Briton.” (Joyce 303) Gabriel never lets his thoughts aloud about what Molly had said but continues to think about what she had said and that he did not consider himself a West Briton just because he wrote for the paper. Molly then takes him across the room and while she and someone were talking about his paper and she asks him to come on an excursion to the Aran Isles that she will stay a month there. In this conversation she questions him about why he doesn’t want to go and he tells her that he goes other places like France, Belgium and Germany. Molly says “ And why do you go to France and Belgium instead of visiting you own land?” (Joyce 304) They get into intense conversation and he answers her nervously when he sees that their neighbors are listening “ If it comes to that, you know, Irish is not my language.” (Joyce 304) As he becomes angry she questions him about his country and finally he replies, “ I’m sick of my own country, sick of it.” She says “Why?” “ Why?” “ Of course, you’ve no answer.” (Joyce 304)
In the last conversation Gabriel and his wife Gretta are in their hotel room when she mentions the song “The Lass of Aughrim” and after he asks her what she is thinking. Gretta is upset about this song because it brings up memories about her love of seventeen. Gabriel didn’t know this about his wife. Gabriel learns a few things about his wife and that she had loved another many years ago, this was a shock to him and kind of angered him. After hearing Gretta’s story and her falling asleep he reminisces the conversation between them and how she had loved another.
This story was interesting and Gabriel’s encounters with the many people at the Morkan dance kept me interested. In the beginning he was scared to talk to Lily and didn’t understand why she was mad, with Molly he let his anger out more and with Gretta he let some feelings be made known but still held some inside. I don’t think he should have thought Gretta had loved more she was just upset about the past.




Sipiora, Phillip Reading and Writing about Literature
Chapter 10 “The research Essay” Joyce, James 291-333
Prentice Hall 2002

Pathways models for Composition Humanities division- Macon state college
Remembrance and Tradition in “The Dead” Ali, Donald
Pearson Custom