Nature is always pushing man to his limits. When man heeds the warning signs that nature has to offer and those warnings of other men, he is most likely to conquer nature. When he ignores these warnings, nature is sure to defeat man. To build a fire is a prime example of this scenario. In the short story, “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, an inexperienced traveler in the Yukon travels alone with his …showed first 75 words of 968 total…

…showed last 75 words of 968 total…but nature humbled him during his quest to reach his friends. The man is strong and smart, yet he is ignorant and inexperienced. What was the man’s urgency to cross the Yukon? Possibly, there was no urgency but only his want to prove he is wiser than the old-timer is. The man may have been experiencing some sort of mid-life crisis and needed to prove to himself that he was stronger than Mother Nature.