Question

Which statement of survival most accurately describes the ending of the story, To Build a Fire?

Answer 1

The correct answer is option letter C (Instinct prevails over intellect). In the short story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London (1902), a unnamed man sets out to the old camp on Henderson Greek against all warnings against it, since he should cross a pine forest with the temperature of −75 °F (−59 °C). A dog, a husky dog, accompanied the man all the way. Even though its instinct tells it not to travel under such conditions, the man doesn't seem to bother. In the description of the man’s struggle against nature, London uses the dog as an element that functions as a symbol of how instinct can be better than the knowledge you think you have. There are several moments when the dog’s instinct tells it to come back because continuing with the trip is nothing but trouble. The arrogance of the man not trusting the dog’s instinct leads him to his slow and painful death. The instinct could have same the man.