I am writing an essay on jack london and the setting my thesis is.. a forest is a vast space filled with a multitude of obstacles, course changes, and shows the strength of life much like how Jack London expressed through words with the immense travels of a young man. My english teacher said to change my thesis to where it talks more about the cold than the forest.. any help?

The cold as an obstacle? Physically as in temperature? Emotionally as in indifference? What would the thesis be?

My thesis is... a forest is a vast space filled with a multitude of obstacles, course changes, and shows the strength of life much like how Jack London expressed through words with the immense travels of a young man. I was just wondering how I could change that

Your teacher said focus on cold -- so write about both physical and emotional coldness in London's books.

Do you have any examples on how I can focus on cold.

Nature is the inscrutable force that must be fought against day and night for survival. And the beasts are part of a world which the naturalists called the “hostile environment” where pressures from every side dictate its creatures' survival. Fang's world in its frozen hostility and its cold indifference is pictured most poetically:

"A vast silence reigned over the land. The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness. There was a hint in it of laughter, but of a laughter more terrible than any sadness—a laughter that was mirthless as the smile of the Sphinx, a laughter cold as the frost and partaking of the grimness of infallibility. It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild." (White Fang, p. 3)

"Day had broken cold and grey, exceedingly cold and grey, when the man turned aside from the main Yukon trail and climbed the high earth-bank, where a dim and little-travelled trail led eastward through the fat spruce timberland. It was a steep bank, and he paused for breath at the top, excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch. It was nine o'clock. There was no sun nor hint of sun, though there was not a cloud in the sky. It was a clear day, and yet there seemed an intangible pall over the face of things, a subtle gloom that made the day dark, and that was due to the absence of sun. This fact did not worry the man. He was used to the lack of sun. It had been days since he had seen the sun, and he knew that a few more days must pass before that cheerful orb, due south, would just peep above the skyline and dip immediately from view." ("To Build a Fire," p. 1)

"To Build a Fire" is the best known of all his stories. It tells the story of a new arrival to the Klondike who stubbornly ignores warnings about the folly of travelling alone. He falls through the ice into a creek in seventy-below weather, and his survival depends on being able to build a fire and dry his clothes, which he is unable to do.

In Jack London's Northland short stories socks, warm moccasins, mittens and fire failed him. While the man could not survive without fire, the dog could. The dog was much closer to its ancestral way of being than the man is. It appreciated fire, but it was not a necessity for its survival. The man was not fit to survive in the cold, but the dog, which seemed to be a lower animal, could stay alive.

That was all copied and pasted from the Internet after a Google search on London and cold. Please don't plagiarize.

Living in the deserted Northland, humans can’t help dwelling on the eternity of the land and feeling their finiteness. As frequently on trail, what our characters saw and what they experienced soon taught them the first lesson to survive in the North: fear and respect for nature. Facing the mighty nature, humans understand that they are too small and effete to exercise their own will. The Northland wilderness was deadly cold and silent and full of hidden dangers. Humans shivered in the cold, felt lonely and frightened by the ghastly silence. These points were exactly what Jack London wanted to convey through “The White Silence,” the short story in which Nature...

Where did u get that from? The first part and who is fang? And the information under it is in the book correct?

That was all copied and pasted from the Internet after a Google search on London and cold. Please don't plagiarize.

Fang = White Fang

Have you read any of London's works?

And where did you get the part where you said nature is the inscrutable force that much be fought against... and all that.. and oh yeah I know I wasn't planning on writing all that word for word because I found that on Google as welll.. and yes I am writing my essay on how to build a fire.. that's why I am asking for help on my thesis

physical cold = Northland
cold indifference = Northland

Two kinds of cold, physical and emotional. Both are detrimental to men in all sorts of ways. Much of that was snippets from essays... wanted to show you how much can be written about both kinds of cold.

You're using only one London short story as the basis for your essay?

Yes I am just writing about how to build a fire and tallking about setting that is what I need help with my thesis

The setting is obvious. One builds a fire to warm his body, and one builds a fire also to warm his soul. Northland = cold temps and cold indifference/hostile landscape, so fire is necessary to give comfort to both body and soul.

Okay then.

do you have any examples on how i can focus on cold.

You have not read "To Build a Fire" lately, have you? I suggest you read it again. I was born and raised in the sub-arctic, so the proagonist's troubles are instantly recognizable to me. Perhaps they are not to you.

And, Wondergirl, I don't know that cold is a metaphor or not. Perhaps, I suppose. I never thought of it that way.

Yes I have read to build a fire...

So this was my idea to write in each of my paragraphs is this good... intro: talk about jack london his word choice a little summary of the story and my thesis... 1st paragraph go into detail on one aspect of the forest and how it relates to the characters... 2nd paragraph describe another characteristic of the forest and relate it to the story... 3rd paragraph describe the intensity that forest poses on the story... 4th paragraph make conclusion and tell whether or not the forest did its job in making the story more intense and if the characteristics provide the right story to tell the mans travels..

You're going to ignore what your teacher (and I) said to do about the cold?

I don't understand how you are finding such importance about the forest.

Your intro sounds much too long and complicated.

What is your thesis statement?

Well I don't have a thesis because the one I wanted to use was wrong.. but in my thesis I want to talk about how the cold pushes the man to extreme measures like when he wanted to kill the dog for warmth and how the cold can be a matter of life or death and how challenging it can be to survive... but I don't know how to put it in good sentence structure to make my thesis sound well. Can you help me with that?

You're using "To Build a Fire" as your jumping off point?

How long is the essay supposed to be?

Yes we only have to write about one story and I am going to write about to build a fire.. I am going to talk about setting.. where the story takes place.. analyze why the author chose that particular location, place, room, forest... how does it increase the impact of the story. And does the setting almost become a character.. w hat influence does it have over the characters..

If I were writing this, I would begin by talking about fire in general -- what it is and how it makes us feel. Then I would include a thesis statement about the importance of fire, especially in this Northland.

This sentence caught my eye: "There was the fire, snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame."

Where did you get that sentence from? And okay in my first paragraph discuss the meaning of fire.

I got that sentence from the story --

All of which counted for little. There was the fire, snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame. He started to untie his moccasins. They were coated with ice; the thick German socks were like sheaths of iron halfway to the knees; and the moccasin strings were like rods of steel all twisted and knotted as by some conflagration. For a moment he tugged with his numb fingers, then, realizing the folly of it, he drew his sheath-knife.

But before he could cut the strings, it happened. It was his own fault or, rather, his mistake. He should not have built the fire under the spruce tree. He should have built it in the open. But it had been easier to pull the twigs from the brush and drop them directly on the fire. Now the tree under which he had done this carried a weight of snow on its boughs. No wind had blown for weeks, and each bough was fully freighted. Each time he had pulled a twig he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree—an imperceptible agitation, so far as he was concerned, but an agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster. High up in the tree one bough capsized its load of snow. This fell on the boughs beneath, capsizing them. This process continued, spreading out and involving the whole tree. It grew like an avalanche, and it descended without warning upon the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out! Where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered snow.

There are other pro-fire sentences when he first built the fire.

Do you know how the cold changed his consciousnous and made him want to kill the dog?

do you know how the cold changed his consciousnous and made him want to kill the dog?
It says exactly why in the story!

IS IT BECAUSE HE thought he could travel with the cold conditions but doesn't listen to the wise man or whatever and so he tries to kill the dog for warmth?

I forgot who told him he couldn't I can't find the page.

What wise man? There was no one else except the dog.

He can't travel and can't even walk. His hands and feet are frozen.

This?

The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head. He remembered the tale of the man, caught in a blizzard, who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass, and so was saved. He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them. Then he could build another fire. He spoke to the dog, calling it to him; but in his voice was a strange note of fear that frightened the animal, who had never known the man to speak in such way before. Something was the matter, and its suspicious nature sensed danger—it knew not what danger, but somewhere, somehow, in its brain arose an apprehension of the man. It flattened its ears down at the sound of the man's voice, and its restless, hunching movements and the liftings and shiftings of its forefeet became more pronounced; but it would not come to the man. He got on his hands and knees and crawled toward the dog. This unusual posture again excited suspicion, and the animal sidled mincingly away.

Is there any way I can send you my essay and you correct it for me please?

How long is it? Can you post it here?

Yeah I will just copy and paste it..

The topic is.. Setting: Where the story or poem takes place. Analyze why the author chose that particular location, room, forest, etc. How does it increase the impact of the story or poem? Does the setting almost become a character? What influence does it have over the character(s)?

Edited in loco. You use both present and past tenses. Use one or the other, not both.

In the short story, "To Build a Fire," the author chooses the desolate Canadian wilderness as the setting, because the solitude that nature provides enhances the protagonist's isolation. In the story, nature is the ambiguous force that must be fought [omit: during the day]. The main character is very stubborn and conceited and ignores all the warnings [add: about] and the disadvantages of traveling alone. Believing in his strength rather than what he knew to be safe[omit: ,] is what lead to his demise. The story has many thorough descriptions of nature, the dangers of intense cold, and the different steps on freezing to death. Jack London uses these details to demonstrate the gravity of the protagonist's situation.

In the beginning of the journey[add ,] the main character notices [moved: only] the cold. However, he sees [moved: only] the surface reality of temperature. Yes[add ,] it is cold, but he refuses to acknowledge the danger that the cold represents. "There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him. He spat again. And again, in the air, before it could fall to the snow, but this spittle had crackled in the air." (London pg. 378) The transformation of spit before hitting the ground exemplifies how dangerous the cold weather was. [new paragraph] As his journey continues, [huh?: the man sees that he is feels] the cold more and more. "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 crystal breath." (London pg. 379) At this point, the protagonist is continuously cooling, and his body can't keep his heat fast enough. The man was not very hesitant in his decision making until he was deep into his journey. As he went on, the realization that he may not survive was slowly setting in. [sentence doesn't make sense: As this happened, he went to further extremes to ensure that this would not happen.] The dog however, [present tense?: follows the man and is miserable because of the incredible cold.] It [instinctively] knew that it was [add: an] inopportune time to travel. The man [present tense?: begins] to panic when he became so cold that he couldn't light a match to start a fire. He [present tense?: decides] to kill the dog to get his fingers warm and start a fire. The incredible cold of the surroundings [present tense?: causes] the man to take drastic measures to keep warm and [present tense?: influences] the rest of his choices in the story.

The protagonist is foolish in this situation, because he fails to use his imagination to prepare for events that could be coming. The man clearly understands that it is cold by using the temperature readings, but does not react properly. The dog uses its instincts to understand the cold and all of its dangers. It also knows the scent to where the men are located nearby. "It's instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the man's judgment." (London page 379) The cold had made the man face life and death, because he did not listen to the old man in the beginning who gave him advice. "When he had recovered his breath and control, he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity." (London page 389) That was the final step in the man realizing he was going to freeze to death. London uses the setting to show the seriousness of the man's situation, and how if you [one word: under estimate] nature you can end up in death. By having the man realize his death, and there is nothing he can do about it, the setting is further enhanced and lets the reader know that the cold is harsher than we would ever had expected. London's use of setting clearly has a big influence over the chain of events in the story.

The trail was just an everyday obstacle for the man who thought he could achieve hiking it by himself with the knowledge of all his surroundings. Throughout his trip the man had misfortunes such as falling in the water and not being able to light a fire. The cold had affected his body so much that it became such a struggle for him to continue his journey. The surrounding wilderness increases the readers fear for the man's survival. The cold surrounding impacts the story in such a way that this bitter cold makes it so the man cannot survive. Socks, warm clothing, mittens and fire had failed him which made the dog have more of a chance for survival than the man. The dog was part of the nature, while the man wasn't even close to being part of it, or even used to the wild. His survival depended on building a fire and being able to dry his clothes which he was not capable of doing. "There was a fire, snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame." (London page 384) This shows that without fire, the cold would win his life. Since the surrounding weather was so bitterly cold, it shrunk the man's chances for survival and impacted his life significantly. The setting has such a strong influence over the character and is really the only thing in his way between life and death.

The extreme cold in London's story shows how hard it is for the man to stay alive. The setting places a big part in the man's life and his demise. The protagonist's failure to realize the extent of his situation ended with his death. Through a chain of events, starting with a man's arrogance, and ending and the unrelenting cold, one can see that the setting dictated the course of the story.

May you revise and correct it for me pleasE?

I did and inserted brackets to show what I would change or add.

Okay thank you so much... and that was just like three pages and like not even half of the fourth it has to be five pages.. do you have any ideas what else I can write about to make it longer?

What does omit mean? And when u say add.. what do u mean like what should I add?

Maybe add more in the beginning about what a seasoned Canadian woodsman would do and throw that in as you recount the mistakes this guy made. Was the protagonist a greenhorn? Where was he from? Any backstory on him?

Well my professor said my intro was pretty good.. what does omit mean? And when you say (add) what do I add? And should I make another paragraph about what? To make it longer?

what does omit mean? and when u say add.. what do u mean like what should i add?
[omit: ,] means get rid of the comma.

[add: ,] means add a comma.

Please write posts/replies to me in grownup English, not in texting.

In the second paragraph the sentence where it says : As he went on the realization that he may not survive was slowly setting in. The sentence after that, which sentence did you mean did'nt make sense?

In the second paragraph the sentence where it says : As he went on the realization that he may not survive was slowly setting in. The sentence after that, which sentence did you mean did'nt make sense?
"As this happened, he went to further extremes to ensure that this would not happen."

Two "happen"s -- as this happened... would not happen. Huh?

Okay, do you know what else I can add as new paragraphs to make it longer?

Sorry, if I am bugging I just don't know what else I can put to make my essay longer? So far, what I sent you is it bad?

In the beginning, write about what a seasoned woodsman would do.

You don't say anything about his wanting to kill the dog and why, do you? (don't remember that you did) You can make a big deal out of that.

Will this be better? Sorry I am going by your options and I am trying to think of some on my own. Should I do one paragraph on the mans arrogance, and another paragraph on man vs. nature?

I'm not sure where either of those would go. No killing the dog addition? -- the animal he most depends on for emotional and physical comfort, for communication, for so many other things I won't bother to list -- so he would kill that? Incredibly stupid and, yes, arrogant.

So, don't write about either of those I told you about?

I'd agree about the arrogance and gave you one example of how the protagonist was so arrogant (and stupid) that he was willing to kill the one thing that was keeping him alive.

How did he happen to fall into the water? Arrogance?

How did so many other bad things happen? Arrogance or poor judgment or stupidity because he was out of his element?

Okay, so I should write one large paragraph about his arrogance. That is mainly writing about how he did'nt recognize the power of nature around him and why right?

I didn't say "one large paragraph," and I have no clue what you mean by the "power of nature."

Just go forward and write.

Is this paragraph well written out and will it fit well into my essay?

This story is about a man’s belief in only himself, his own self confidence, and arrogance to a point that he doesn’t recognize his sense of nature around him. London’s story focuses on man versus nature. We all have this thought going through our heads, and think we know everything so we ignore others who know what is right and wrong for us. In that case, the man’s arrogance led him to his death, by not trusting the dog or others' beliefs on what happens in the nature life. The man leads himself to the cost in life, because he is trying to get himself across that nature is intolerant, and unless you follow all of the rules you will face the consequences and die. The dog leads the man to lack of thoughts, because he doesn’t know what’s good for him. The man can represent mankind’s arrogance about how he is so superior to the nature. The man can’t picture everything that is going on in the wilderness, but the dog can just sense it is not good. The man depends on the dog for both emotional and physical comfort for communication. That leads to stupidity, because he is talking about a dog not a human. The man’s main arrogance is that he ignores both the voice of the old man and the dog. During the story, the man was given a lot of suggestions which he felt to ignore, that showed he had lack of modesty and the understanding of the miserable territory he was entering. He was a newcomer to the winter, and this was at least what he had expected to happen. It must have been his own attitude in himself, and his ability that caused him to ignore the guidance from a person as experienced as the old timer.

I underlined words and phrases you need to look at and possibly change.

Did you write the paragraphs that you posted first?

What do I do to the underlined words? The paragraphs I sent you earlier are part of my essay, I want to add this paragraph in there? Is that possible?

Read the underlined ones and rewrite. They don't make sense. Also do not suddenly use "you" in an essay like this.

Yes, incorporate this paragraph into the body of your essay.

Do I change you to people? And what paragraph would it run smoothly to put in between to make my essay flow?

Have you written this entire essay by yourself, or have you gotten help from someone (not me)?

I have gotten help from one of my friends why?

The writing style is different.

Yeah, my friend revised and corrected the one I sent to you before that is probably why. Do you know where I can put that paragraph I just sent you to fit into my essay?

I'd put it somewhere at the end. With Word, it should be easy to fit and tweak it and wedge it in somewhere. NOT the last paragraph -- and you might want to move some sentences around from one paragraph to another.

Okay, I am going to retype my essay and add that paragraph in, then may I send it to you one last time and you check it one last time for me please to see if everything fits in order? And move which sentences around in which paragraph?

You want the essay to make sense. Do your best and I will tear it apart. :D

Okay, thank you so much for your help. When I am done typing it I will send it to you again?

Yup. I'll be here waiting!

In the story “To Build a Fire�, the author chooses the desolate Canadian wilderness as the setting, because the solitude the nature provides enhances the protagonist's isolation. In the story, nature is the ambiguous force that must be fought. The main character is very stubborn and conceited and ignores all the warnings about the disadvantages of traveling alone. Believing in his strength, rather than what he knew to be safe is what led to his demise. The story has many thorough descriptions of nature, the dangers of intense cold, and the different steps on freezing to death. Jack London uses these details to demonstrate the gravity of the protagonist's situation.
In the beginning of the journey, the main character notices only the cold. However, he sees the surface reality of temperature. Yes, it is cold, but he refuses to acknowledge the danger that the cold represents. “There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him. He spat again. And again, in the air, before it could fall to the snow, but this spittle had crackled in the air.� (London pg. 378) The transformation of spit before hitting the ground exemplifies how dangerous the cold weather was.
As his journey continues, the man sees that he feels the cold more and more. “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 crystal breath.�(London pg. 379) At this point, the protagonist's is continuously cooling, and his body can't keep his heat fast enough. The man was not very hesitant in his decision making until he was deep into his journey. As he went on the realization on his hopes to surviving were slowly setting in. As his thoughts were coming in all at once, he did as much as he could so none of that would happen. The dog however, followed the man and is miserable because of the incredible cold. It instinctively knew that is was an inopportune time to travel. The man began to panic when he became so cold that he couldn't light a match to start a fire. He decided to kill the dog to get his fingers warm and start a fire. The incredible cold of the surroundings caused the man to take drastic measures to keep warm and influenced the rest of his choices in the story.
The protagonist is foolish in this situation, because he fails to use his imagination to prepare for events that could be coming. The man clearly understands that it is cold by using the temperature readings, but does not react properly. The dog uses its instincts to understand the cold and all of its dangers. It also knows the scent to where the men are located nearby. “It's instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the man's judgment.� (London pg. 379) The cold had made the man face life and death, because he did not listen to the old man in the beginning who gave him advice. “When he had recovered his breath and control, he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity.� (London pg. 389) That was the final step in the man realizing he was going to freeze to death. London uses the setting to show the seriousness of the man's situation, and how if he underestimates nature he can end up in death. By having the man realize his death, and there is nothing h can do about it, thesetting is further enhanced and lets the reader know that the cold is harsher than we would have ever expected. London's use of setting clearly has a big influence over the chain of events in the story.
This story is about a man's belief in only himself, his self confidence, and even his arrogance to a point that he doesn't recognize his sense of nature around him. London's story focuses on man versus nature. We all have this though going through our heads, and we think we know everything, so we ignore others who know what is right and wrong for us. In that case, the man's arrogance led him to his death, by not trusting the dog or others beliefs on what happens in the nature life. The man leads himself to the end of his life, trying to get across his struggles of nature, and unless he follows all of the rules he will face the consequences and die. The dog leads the man to lack of thoughts, because he doesn't know what is good for him. The man can represent mankind's arrogance about how he is so superior to his own style of living, not so much in the wilderness. The man can't picture everything that is going on in the wilderness, but the dog can just sense it is not good. The man depends on the dog for both emotional and physical comfort for communication. That leads to his stupidity, because he is talking about a dog not a human. The man's main arrogance is that he ignores both the voice of the old man and the dog. During the story, the man was given a lot of suggestions which he ignored, that showed he had lack of modesty and the understanding of the miserable territory he was entering. He was a newcomer to the winter, and all of this confused, unexpected things turned out not to be what he expected during his travel.
The trail was just an everyday obstacle for the man who thought he could achieve hiking it by himself with the knowledge of all his surroundings. Throughout his trip the man had misfortunes such as falling in the water and not being able to light a fire. The cold had affected his body so much that it became such a struggle for him to continue his journey. The surrounding wilderness increases the readers fear for the man's survival. The cold surrounding impacts the story in such a way that this bitter cold makes it so the man cannot survive. Socks, warm clothing, mittens and fire had failed him which made the dog have more of a chance for survival than the man. The dog was part of the nature, while the man wasn't even close to being part of it, or even used to the wild. His survival depended on building a fire and being able to dry his clothes which he was not capable of doing. “There was a fire, snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame.� (London pg. 384) This shows that without fire, the cold would win his life. Since the surrounding weather was so bitterly cold, it shrunk the man's chances for survival and impacted his life significantly. The setting has such a strong influence over the character and is really the only thing in his way between life and death.
The extreme cold in London's story shows how hard it is for the man to stay alive. The setting places a big part in the man's life and his demise. The protagonist's failure to realize the extent of his situation ended with his death. The tone of this story, does not influence the readers mind thoughtfully, and does not feel sorry for the protagonist. He is a person who likes to do things his own way and disobey the rules of nature according to his own opinions. The ending result to the man's journey was from
His lack of imagination, communication skills, and not getting used to his surroundings around him which led him to bigger causes to deal with such as catching hypothermia. Through a chain of events, starting with a man's arrogance, and ending, and the unrelenting cold, one can see that the setting dictated the course of the story.

In the story "To Build a Fire," the author chooses the desolate Canadian wilderness as the setting because the natural solitude enhances the protagonist's isolation. In the story, Nature is the ambiguous force that must be fought. The main character is very stubborn and conceited and ignores all the warnings about the disadvantages of traveling alone. Believing in his strength, rather than in what he knew to be safe, is what led to his demise. The story has many detailed descriptions of Nature, the dangers of intense cold, and the different steps on freezing to death. Jack London uses these details to demonstrate the gravity of the protagonist's situation.

In the beginning of the journey, the main character notices only the cold. However, he sees the superficial reality of temperature. Yes, it is cold, but he refuses to acknowledge the danger that the cold represents. "There was a sharp explosive crackle that startled him. He spat again. And again, in the air, before it could fall to the snow, but this spittle had crackled in the air." (London pg. 378) The transformation of spit before hitting the ground exemplifies how dangerous the cold weather was.

As his journey continues, the man feels the cold more and more. Of the dog, London writes, "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 crystal breath." (London pg. 379) At this point, the protagonist's body is continuously cooling, and he can't keep his heat well enough. The man is not very hesitant in his decision-making until he is deep into his journey. As he goes on, the realization of his vain hope to survive is slowly setting in. As his thoughts are coming in all at once, he does as much as he can so none of that would happen. The dog, however, follows the man and is miserable because of the incredible cold. It instinctively knows that is was an inopportune time to travel. The man begins to panic when he becomes so cold that he can't light a match to start a fire. He decides to kill the dog to get his fingers warm so he can start a fire. The incredible cold of the surroundings cause the man to want to take drastic measures to keep warm and influences the rest of his choices in the story.

The protagonist is foolish in this situation, because he fails to use his imagination to prepare for coming events. The man clearly understands that it is cold by using the temperature readings, but does not react properly. The dog uses its instincts to understand the cold and all of its dangers. It also knows the scent to where the men are located nearby. "Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the man's judgment." (London pg. 379) The cold had made the man face life and death because he did not listen to the old man in the beginning who gave him advice. "When he had recovered his breath and control, he sat up and entertained in his mind the conception of meeting death with dignity." (London pg. 389) That was the final step in the man realizing he was going to freeze to death. London uses the setting to show the seriousness of the man's situation, and how, if he underestimates Nature, he can end up dead. By having the man foresee his death, and realize there is nothing he can do about it, the setting is further enhanced and lets the reader know that the cold is harsher than is expected. London's use of setting clearly has a big influence over the chain of events in the story.

This story is about a man's belief in only himself, his self confidence, and even his arrogance to a point that he doesn't recognize his sense of what Nature is telling him. London's story focuses on man versus Nature. This is a human characteristic: We all have this going through our heads, and we think we know everything, so we ignore others who know what is right and wrong for us. In that case, the man's arrogance led him to his death by not trusting the dog or others' beliefs on what happens in Nature. The man leads himself to the end of his life, trying to get through struggles with Nature, and unless he follows all of the rules, he will face the consequences and die. The presence of the warm dog leads the man to confusion and looking at the obvious solution without taking into consideration the long-term effects. He doesn't know what is good for him. The man can represent mankind's arrogance about how he is so superior to his own style of living, but not so much in the wilderness. The man can't picture everything that is going on in the wilderness, but the dog can sense it is not good. The man depends on the dog for both emotional and physical comfort for communication. That leads to the man's stupidity because he is talking about a dog, not a human. The man's main point of arrogance is that he ignores both the voice of the old man and the dog. During the story, the man was given a lot of suggestions which he ignored, and that ignoring showed he had far too much hubris and a lack of understanding the miserable territory he was entering. He was a newcomer to the winter, and all of the confused, unexpected things turned out not to be what he expected during his travel.

The trail was just an everyday obstacle for the man who thought he could achieve hiking it by himself with the knowledge of all his surroundings. Throughout his trip the man had misfortunes such as falling into the water and not being able to light a fire. The cold had affected his body so much that it became such a struggle for him to continue his journey. The surrounding wilderness increases the readers fear for the man's survival. The cold surrounding impacts the story in such a way that this bitter cold makes it so the man cannot survive. Socks, warm clothing, mittens, and fire had failed him which gave the dog have more of a chance for survival than the man had. The dog was part of Nature, while the man wasn't even close to being part of it, or even used to the wild. His survival depended on building a fire and being able to dry his clothes which he was not capable of doing. "There was a fire, snapping and crackling and promising life with every dancing flame." (London pg. 384) This shows that without fire, the cold would win his life. Since the enveloping weather was so bitterly cold, it shrunk the man's chances for survival and impacted his life significantly. The setting has such a strong influence over the character and is really the only thing in his way between life and death.

The extreme cold in London's story shows how hard it is for the man to stay alive. The setting places a big part in the man's life and his demise. The protagonist's failure to realize the extent of his situation ended with his death. The tone of this story does not influence the reader's mind positively; the author does not feel sorry for the protagonist. The protagonist is a person who likes to do things his own way and disobey the rules of Nature according to his own opinions. The ending result to the man's journey was from his lack of imagination, communication skills, and not getting used to his surroundings around him which led him to bigger causes to deal with such as hypothermia. Through a chain of events, starting with a man's arrogance and ending with unrelenting cold, one can see that the setting dictated the course of the story.

That is what I should change it to?

Of course, indent (I can't on here).

I made a few changes.

Let your friend read it, if there's time.

Indent what sorry? And okay I will let my friend go over it.

Indent paragraphs.

I simply put it in block style with line breaks to show paragraphs.

Okay, thank you so much. Does this essay go with my topic though, because I am trying to get a good grade on this essay because I failed the last two.

Be sure your friend reads it to determine smoothness. It seems like you repeat yourself here and there, but in general it seems to work okay.

Are you a native English speaker?

Okay, I will send it to my friend. And yes I am.