Question

An old-timer warns a prospector that he should never travel alone in the Alaskan wilderness when the temperature is 50 below zero. The prospector laughs at the old-timer and travels into the wilderness anyway. He soon gets in serious trouble when he realizes that his hands are shaking too much for him to start a fire. Which is most clearly a general theme in the story?

Answer 1

Answer: the general theme in the story is arrogance.

Explanation: in this excerpt we can clearly see the description of an act of arrogance, the prospector is told, by an old man (that has a lot more of experience and wisdom) that he shouldn't travel alon in the wild of Alaska when the temperature is 50 below zero, the prospector, who thinks knows better, laughs at the old man, and goes to the wild (this is the act of arrogance), and then he learns his lesson when he cant's start a fire.

Answer 2

"An old-timer warns a prospector that he should never travel alone in the Alaskan wilderness when the temperature is 50 below zero prospector laughs at the old-timer and travels into the wilderness anyway. He soon gets in serious trouble when he realizes that his hands are shaking too much for him to start a fire".

The theme of the story depicted through this is the theme of arrogance, wherein the prospector considers it insignificant to follow and mocks the old-timer. Therefore, due to his arrogance and failure to adhere to the rules, it leads to serious trouble where he is unable to light the fire due to snowfall.