Based on existent experiences. Jack London’s narratives of high escapades have been appealing to 1000000s of readers worldwide. With naturalism manner of fiction and a common subject – vigorous nature – in his plant. the great writer ever took great attention to picture his characters and the battles with nature to expose man’s qualities in formidable state of affairss. “To construct a fire” is a good illustration. By making a context of terrible conditions with white hoar dominating throughout the narrative. Jack London was successful in portraying his supporter Tom Vincent with all positive and negative qualities.

The character’s positive qualities were revealed from the beginning of the narrative. In the first page. readers can easy comprehend that Tom Vincent was a strong adult male. The supporter was described as “a strapping immature chap. big-boned and big-muscled. with religion in himself and in strength of his caput and custodies. ” With good descriptive words. the author created a graphic image of a immature adult male who was strong both physically and mentally. He was courageous and ever ready to get by with troubles with a steadfast belief in himself. He did non conceal from the terrible elements ; alternatively. “he was out in it. confronting it. contending it” .

Furthermore. Tom Vincent was a smart and clear-headed individual. He knew how to protect himself in the freeze conditions. Recognizing the biting cold. “he leaped to his pess and ran briskly up the trail” ; besides. he rubbed his olfactory organ and cheeks boulder clay they burned with the returning blood. which made him heater. When he felt the cold H2O work stoppage his pess and mortise joints. he knew “the thing to make. and the lone thing to make. was to construct a fire” . Though neglecting to put a fire many times and about hopeless with his asleep custodies. Tom Vincent could maintain his head sound plenty to come up with the thought of firing his custodies to recover their feeling and continued to construct another fire. Obviously. Tom was a adult male who could respond to hard state of affairss rather flexibly and cleverly.

The most singular quality of Tom Vincent is his strong endurance inherent aptitude with great forbearance and doggedness. which was vividly described through the character’s uninterrupted efforts to construct a fire in stop deading conditions. When Tom was cognizant of his unsafe state of affairs. he didn’t believe so much but concentrated on constructing a fire – the lone thing that could salvage his life at that minute. In the first effort. he kneeled down to inflame his fire. Despite his unmittened stiff fingers. he told himself non to travel rapidly things and cherished his fire with the uttermost attention. However. the hoar forced him to endure more. His immature fire. his small visible radiation of hope. was shortly buried under the snow that fell down from the pine boughs. In malice of the fright and terror growth larger and larger inside him. he kept his presence of head. He did non let himself to be overwhelmed by the hardship and started at one time to reconstruct the fire. Unfortunately. he failed at the really get downing when he dropped the lucifer in the snow and could non pick it up once more with his asleep fingers. Desperate. but he. though distressingly. stood up. stepped to one side to avoid being disturbed by the falling snow from the pine boughs. “beat his custodies violently against a tree-trunk” . and made another effort.

Still. the aggressive elements kept disturbing the suffering adult male. Tom’s bantam fire was quenched one more clip in his shaking manus due to the terrible cold. After back-to-back failures. Tom virtually collapsed with desperation. but rapidly. he ran up the trail to look for aid. He still believed there was another solution available someplace. Even when he had recognized that there was no aid. no mark of aid but the passionless white hoar and the audacious silence. his hope of being rescued quickly ignited once more when his eyes chanced upon another high-water lodgement of branchlets and subdivisions. He started over to construct a fire! He tried to get the better of the status of asleep custodies with all fingers straight out by “pressing the carpus of the other manus against them” and eventually managed to light the lucifer. Unfortunately. the fire burned into the flesh of his manus. which made him involuntarily loosen up his clasp and impotently watch the lucifer autumn into the snow. The fire went out. Again. he ran. in his most awful terror. but the lone thing he could happen was an empty shelter of moose-hunters. This clip. he felt so severely frightened that he sank down and sobbed. about accepting that everything was over. When all the doors seemed to be closed. his love of life burned strongly than of all time. He “sprang once more to his feet” . believing rapidly. and found out a manner to salvage his life – firing his custodies to recover their sense. He set his dentitions to bear the hurting caused by the fire creaming his flesh. Apparently. that he writhed around with the torture. yet held on the fire. was the greatest grounds of his tough endurance inherent aptitude. The epic step and the astonishing courage to move over the appendage saved him from decease. Through Tom Vincent’s uninterrupted efforts to construct a fire. readers can see clearly the character’s lastingness and Fe will. Despite the terrible adversity. he made great attempts ; despite the great attempts. he made uninterrupted failures ; despite the uninterrupted failures. he ever gave himself another chance to last.

Beside the positive qualities. readers could see the presence of negative traits in the character’s personality. which brought him really near to decease. Tom Vincent was exposed as an overconfident. subjective and chesty immature adult male. Ignoring the principle of the North. “Never travel alone” . Tom. by himself. started his journey in a terrible conditions status with merely a light battalion on his dorsum. a brace of mocassins on his pess. and an over-optimistic attitude on a new. unusual and alone path. At the beginning of the journey. he was singing along the trail and enjoyed it with all his great exhilaration. He was fearless with the idea that “there was no possibility of acquiring lost” and considered a nose-strap “feminine contraption” . Although the nature did warn him of its killing stop deading cold. Tom enjoyed the jubilance with a self-satisfied attitude. He assumed that he was stronger than the elements and considered himself as maestro of the elements. “He laughed aloud in sheer strength of life. and with his clinched fist defied the frost” . It was his certitude that made him take all wretchednesss afterwards.

Tom was a strong and smart immature adult male ; however. it was non plenty for him in the battle against the barbarous nature. In the double with Mother Nature. he was merely a kid. He failed to gauge all unsafe accidents that did go on to him during his journey. First of all. he hadn’t cognize how rough the conditions was and afterwards felt the demand of a nose-strap that he had scorned earlier. Furthermore. he built a fire under a pine tree with white boughs that blotted out his fire. Besides. he couldn’t imagine that his custodies and his organic structure would go such asleep and worthless 1s that prevented him from constructing a fire. Ultimately. he regretted disregarding the principle of the North and wished to hold a companion whose pess were non stop deading to get down a fire that could salvage him. After sing uninterrupted acrimonious failures. Tom. a beefy adult male. drop down and sobbed like a kid. Jack London was successful utilizing contrast to paint his character: one arrogant at the beginning and one miserable at the terminal. Through that. the writer showed us the effects of his character’s defects. Though thought that Tom Vincent deserved to pay for his haughtiness. readers feel sorry for him. If he had been a good hearer – going with a comrade or get downing the journey in a better conditions status. he wouldn’t have fallen into such a dangerous state of affairs that about took his life off.

The narrative ended with a Tom Vincent lasting but wholly different from the Tom at the beginning. He became “sensitive to frost” and “lays down the principle of the North” . He eventually took a acrimonious lesson from Mother Nature. After analysing the character’s positive and negative qualities. we can larn valuable lessons: a will of Fe is a arm that helps us overcome troubles in life. even in the worst state of affairs ; nevertheless. ne’er underestimate possible hazards around us. and be a good hearer. A adult male with all good qualities like Tom Vincent could be a really successful individual in the modern universe today ; however. it is the haughtiness that will destruct all his success. Hence. a adult male can win merely when he understands the regulations of nature and the regulations of life to take appropriate actions in all escapades during his life.