Saturday, September 27, 2014

In "To Build a Fire," the man remembers advice he had been given by the old man at Sulphur Creek. List three of these bits of advice.

It is of course the unfortunate unfailure of the anonymous
protagonist in this excellent story to pay attention to the advice that the old man from
Sulphur creek gave him before he embarked on his journey that results in his death. The
first mention we have of the old man is when the protagonist remembers the old man
telling him precisely how cold it got in the country, and then how he had actually
laughed at the old man. Listening to this advice would have probably causes the
protagonist not to venture out in the first place, as he would have had a healthy
respect for the cold and how dangerous it could
be.


Secondly, the old man told him that "a man must not
fail in his first attempt to build a fire--that is, if his feet are wet." This is one
piece of advice that the protagonist does listen to and act upon when he does get his
feet wet after he falls through the ice into
water.


Thirdly, the protagonist remembers another
injunction that is given to him by the old man:


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He remembered the advice of the old-timer on
Sulphur Creek, and smiled. The old-timer had been very serious 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.



Note the arrogance
of the protagonist in the way that he rejects this bit of advice, and rather insultingly
considers the old-timer to be "womanish." This is another crucial bit of advice that
could have potentially saved the protagonist, for travelling with a companion would have
meant there would have been somebody else to help make a fire or fetch help. The
protagonist's arrogance is yet again shown to have led to his
death.

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