Jack London Diction

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Although there is much technology present today, nature is still strong enough to have more control over humans. Humans tend to think that they will be able to overcome anything nature throws at them but are actually underestimating it. In To Build a Fire, by Jack London, the author uses character, diction, and imagery to show that if you don’t have experience and common sense in freezing cold weather conditions you will not be able to survive.
One of the elements used to describe the man’s inexperience in the cold weather is diction. By the author’s use of certain words, a tone of foreboding is created which describes the feeling that something bad will happen to the main character because he has no experience in the cold weather. When …show more content…
The sense of foreboding created shows the reader how fearful the man might be of the cold since he is not sure of what to expect on his way back to the camp. The author also describes one of the man’s weaknesses when he says, “He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances.” (London, 29-30) The narrator is explaining that although the man was alert in some things he was not aware of the importance of what was happening. Although he …show more content…
The author describes how the man had never experienced winter in this land when he says, “He was a newcomer in the land, a chechaquo, and this was his first winter.” (London, 28) Since it was the man’s first winter in this land he could not prepare for what was to come since he had never experienced it before. He would not have the common sense or knowledge of someone who has experienced the cold weather there. The man’s character is also described when it is said that he did not believe the old-timer when he told the man how cold it gets. “That man from Sulphur Creek had spoken the truth when telling how cold it sometimes got in the country. And he had laughed at him at the time!” (London, 184-186) The man from Sulphur Creek tried to warn the man about the cold weather but instead of listening, the man laughed at him not believing the weather would be as bad as it was. The man had never experienced a winter in that land which shows his lack of knowledge and again creates a sense of foreboding. Lastly, the man’s character is shown when he stops and takes his time to smoke“When the man had finished, he filled his pipe and took his comfortable time over a smoke.” (London, 196) Instead of working to try and get himself through the cold, the man took his time to smoke when he could have used the time to make his way closer to the camp. He was unaware of how quickly he could freeze
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