to build a fire 理解 高考

1、转自独行者的博客 地址：in this essay, i intend to review the short story of to build a fire byjack london in three aspects: the setting, the characters and my thought about the theme of this novel. since the main purpose is to present my thought about the theme of the story, i have no intention in wasting a lo

2、t of words on the useless summary of the novel downloaded form the internet. besides, discussion about the author jack london is also skimmed, although it may be useful in the understanding of this novel. instead, the background and characters is talked about first, which, i think, is important and

3、helpful to understand this novel then my viewpoint about the theme is naturally concluded. here, i should mention that some essays and analyses about to build a firein the net have been read before i wrote this essay.1 the setting,the psychological time or place in a storywhat impresses me most, whe

4、n i read this novel in the first time, is the vivid description of the environment by the author. “the yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice. on top of this ice were as many feet of snow. it was all pure white, rolling in gentle undulations where the ice-jams of the freeze-up had

5、formed. north and south, as far as his eye could see, it was unbroken white, save for a dark hair-line that curved and twisted from around the spruce- covered island to the south, and that curved and twisted away into the north, where it disappeared behind another spruce-covered island.”these words

6、present me a “dim and little-traveled” land, extreme cold, white and with no sign of life. as a boy from southeast china, i had no experiences and even imaginations of extreme cold. similar to the traveler, “the tremendous cold, and the strangeness and weirdness of it all-made no impression on” me.

7、however, i was quickly shocked by the idea of extreme cold conveyed by the author in the following dialogue, “it did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon mans frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold; and from the

8、re on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe.” this is a description of the extreme cold from another perspective (the meditation of author), indicating that the environment is so cold and hard that man doesnt belong it. furthermore, the descriptio

9、n seems to betray the theme of the novel: man and nature, namely, the author in the beginning of the novel has put the question about the relation between man and nature or mans position in the nature forward. (this is an old topic. our chinese ancestors viewpoint seems to be rational and acceptable

10、, that is, harmonization of man and nature (天人合一). and it has gradually accepted by the international community. thats why we tend to use the word “communicate” instead of “conquer” in the anniversary of successful climbing everest of 100 years.)since the environment has much importance to do with t

11、he plot and theme of the novel, apart from his direct description and narration about cold, london made use of the heros action to make extreme cold seem to be more vivid and believable. “as he turned to go on, he spat speculatively. there was a sharp, explosive crackle that startled him. he spat ag

12、ain. and again, in the air, before it could fall to the snow, the spittle crackled.” “he was surprised, however, at the cold. it certainly was cold, he concluded, as he rubbed his numbed nose and cheek-bones with his mittened hand. he was a warm-whiskered man, but the hair on his face did not protec

13、t the high cheek-bones and the eager nose that thrust itself aggressively into the frosty air.” “the frozen moisture of its breathing had settled on its fur in a fine powder of frost, and especially were its jowls, muzzle, and eyelashes whitened by its crystalled breath.” “there was nobody to talk t

14、o and, had there been, speech would have been impossible because of the ice-muzzle on his mouth. so he continued monotonously to chew tobacco and to increase the length of his amber beard.once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold.

15、” “he started to untie his moccasins. they were coated with ice; the thick german socks were like sheaths of iron half-way to the knees; and the mocassin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration. for a moment he tugged with his numbed fingers, then, realizing

16、the folly of it, he drew his sheath-knife”all these mentioned above provide a setting, a man traveled in an extreme cold palace alone, which accounts much for the success of this short story. were there not extreme cold environment and a lonely traveler, there is no attracting story. furthermore, th

17、e theme what the author tried to express would become impossible. it is not exaggerated to say, it is this vivid setting that succeed in making me, a boy form southeast, experience an extreme cold story, and force me to think the relation between man and nature implied in the story.2 charactersapart

18、 from the background (the vivid description of nature), the successful portraying of characters also contributes much to the theme of to build a fire. there are two main characters existing in the novel: a man and a dog, one symbolizing human being or social life form and the other natural life form

19、. besides, other two characters are also worth mention, although they are not notable, that is,the old-timer, representing the law of nature, and the boys, representing the ambition and desire of human being. the man is a person whose goal at the start of the story is to reach the camp to meet the b

20、oys, presumably to prospect for gold. in to build a fire he is purposely not given a name, as the man is a representative of rational and intelligent human beings. here, some persons maybe argue that he is not rational and intelligent enough to symbolize the whole human race, for his own faults resu

21、lts his death. however, in my viewpoint, he is still intelligent and rational although he died in the end. my evidence lies in the following paragraphs: “he was keenly observant, and he noticed the changes in the creek, the curves and bends and timber- jams, and always he sharply noted where he plac

22、ed his feet.” “he knew that the coldest snaps never froze these springs, and he knew likewise their danger. they were traps. they hid pools of water under the snow that might be three inches deep, or three feet.” “he had felt the give under his feet and heard the crackle of a snow-hidden ice-skin. a

23、nd to get his feet wet in such a temperature meant trouble and danger.” “he did not expose his fingers more than a minute, and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them. it certainly was cold. he pulled on the mitten hastily, and beat the hand savagely across his chest.”these mentioned ab

24、ove are good examples of his caution, betraying his intelligence. his intelligence also presents in his building a fire. “he threw down several large pieces on top of the snow. this served for a foundation and prevented the young flame from drowning itself in the snow it otherwise would melt. the fl

25、ame he got by touching a match to a small shred of birch-bark that he took from his pocket. this burned even more readily than paper. placing it on the foundation, he fed the young flame with wisps of dry grass and with the tiniest dry twigs.” and he also know that“ the circulation of wet and freezi

26、ng feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below. no matter how fast he runs, the wet feet will freeze the harder.”even after his fire to save his life was put out by the snow, he still tried to keep calm and remain rational. “he was busy all the time they were passing through his

27、 mind, he made a new foundation for a fire, this time in the open; where no treacherous tree could blot it out. next, he gathered dry grasses and tiny twigs from the high-water flotsam. he could not bring his fingers together to pull them out, but he was able to gather them by the handful. in this w

28、ay he got many rotten twigs and bits of green moss that were undesirable, but it was the best he could do. he worked methodically, even collecting an armful of the larger branches to be used later when the fire gathered strength.” “small pieces of rotten wood and green moss clung to the twigs, and h

29、e bit them off as well as he could with his teeth.he cherished the flame carefully and awkwardly. it meant life, and it must not perish.”hence, the man is intelligent and rational. meanwhile, his mistake in building a fire should not be ignored, that is, building a fire under a spruce tree, which ac

30、count much for his death. however, it cannot be used as a proof to argue that he is stupid, for “he was a new-comer in the land, a chechaquo, and this was his first winter.”in authors words, it is his own fault or, rather, his mistake,namely, it is mistake rather than a fault. the latter implies ful

31、l responsibility, whereas the former suggests an isolated incident out of ones control. instead of weakening the point that he is intelligent and rational man, this mistake strengthens the fact that he is a common person, who will make mistake in daily life. it is the extreme environment that makes

32、this small mistake claim his life.as a matter of fact, his ignorance to the old-timers admonition rather than his building fire under tree has implied the mans death. the admonition is the law, to which nature will not allow any defiance. under the environment not belonged to human beings or, rather

33、, the social life form, the force and law of nature decides everything. in the beginning of the story, the author has implied the heros destine. “it did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon mans frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow l

34、imits of heat and cold; and from there on it did not lead him to the conjectural field of immortality and mans place in the universe.”however, it is also not his fault, as he is not a dog, the wide animal, which “was depressed by the tremendous cold” and “knew that it was no time for traveling.” ins

35、tead, he is human being, with ambitions. he wants to go to the camp and together with boys. therefore, his ambition decides his death. meanwhile, it also confirms his role, the representative of human being as well as a challenger to the force of nature.dissimilar to the man, the dog has no intellig

36、ence and ration, but it has instinct. “the dog did not know anything about thermometers. possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the mans brain. but the brute had its instinct. it experienced a vague but menacing apprehension that subdued it

37、and made it slink along at the mans heels, and that made it question eagerly every unwonted movement of the man as if expecting him to go into camp or to seek shelter somewhere and build a fire.” “this man did not know cold. possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold, of

38、real cold, of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing-point. but the dog knew; all its ancestry knew, and it had inherited the knowledge.”the best comparison between human and dog lies in the following sentence.“it made quick efforts to lick the ice off its legs, then dropped down in the s

39、now and began to bite out the ice that had formed between the toes. this was a matter of instinct. to permit the ice to remain would mean sore feet. it did not know this. it merely obeyed the mysterious prompting that arose from the deep crypts of its being. (dog) but the man knew, having achieved a

40、 judgment on the subject, and he removed the mitten from his right hand and helped tear out the ice- particles. he did not expose his fingers more than a minute, and was astonished at the swift numbness that smote them. it certainly was cold. he pulled on the mitten hastily, and beat the hand savage

41、ly across his chest. (man)”hence, the dog represents pure instinct, a sign of nature and obedience to the force of nature. unlike the man, who requires the products of intellectual civilization-warm clothing, matches, maps, thermometers-the dog simply uses its own natural advantages-fur, a keen sens

42、e of smell and an instinctive understanding of the cold. perhaps more importantly, the dog has no ambition and it knows how to harmonize with nature. although the lack of intelligence deprives it from the ability to build a fire, it ensures the dog never to be a challenger, which makes it survive it

43、s host. the rest two characters only exist in the heros thought. his attitude towards old-timer changes from respect to scoff, then to believe again and finally to admit the old-timer is right. “he remembered the advice of the old-timer on sulphur creek, and smiled. the old-timer had been very serio

44、us in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the klondike after fifty below. well, here he was; he had had the accident; he was alone; and he had saved himself. those old-timers were rather womanish, some of them, he thought.” “perhaps the old-timer on sulphur creek was right. if he ha

45、d only had a trail-mate he would have been in no danger now. the trail-mate could have built the fire.”“ you were right, old hoss; you were right, the man mumbled to the old-timer of sulphur creek.”in fact, the old-timer and his admonitions never change in the whole story, as the admonition is the l

46、aw, which is proofed by many peoples death and finally including the hero himself.as for the boys in the camp, they are symbolized as ambitions in the innermost recess of heros heart. it is what motivates him to adventure in the wasteland lonely; it is what promotes him never to give up; it is what

47、finally claims his life. even before his death, the hero still holds his ambitions. “he pictured the boys finding his body next day. suddenly he found himself with them, coming along the trail and looking for himself. he did not belong with himself any more, for even then he was out of himself, stan

48、ding with the boys and looking at himself in the snow.”the man realizes his dream in the dream. it is hard to say that whether it is a happy end or a sarcastic end. 3 the main theme of the storydifferent people have different opinions about the theme of to build a fire. however, after the analysis i

49、n the background and characters, one main theme of this story seems to be self-evident, that is “mans place in the universe”.the author tried to remind people of the importance to know themselves, which can be understand in the following four aspects:in the first place, he used determinism to awaken people to the fact that human being is not god. although man is intelligent and rational, he has no completely free will; instead, he is shaped, or determined, by their environment and bi