Reflection On To Build A Fire

“To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.” -Fredrich  Nietzsche

     The true survival of man is based on willingness to survive. In the story, To Build A Fire, by Jack London, explores the theme of confidence and hope of survival. This book displayed what human perspective is really about, and that while the reader hopes for the best for the characters. It forces you to think about the story in their shoes. 

    “Well, he was bound to freeze anyway, and he might as well take it decently. With this new-found peace of mind came the first glimmerings of drowsiness. A good idea, he thought, to sleep off to death. It was like salting an anaesthetic. Freezing was not so bad as people thought. There were lots worse ways to die.”-To build a fire, by Jack London

      The short story was about a man who was going into the cold wilderness with his friends on a trip. The man wanted to take a different longer route than his friends and meet up with them at the campsite later. He faces the cold toughly at 75 degrees below zero. He meets a dog, which the dog, in instincts follows the man, for knowing that he would be able to find warmth and food. The man falls in the water and makes a fire hoping to warm hisself enough to keep going and survive. The fire goes out after many attempts and the man starts to lose hope. He gets up and tries to run the way to camp, hoping that it will warm his enough to make it back to camp. He was warming up running but he couldn’t run forever and had to slow down. He slowly started at the feeling that he wouldn't be able to make it and die on the trail. He finally gave out and fell to the ground losing all hope for survival. 

     This book was great from start to finish. Hoping that he would make it back to camp, but losing hope for him as more challenges face him. I felt a lot of emotions similar to the man in the story, in that we were both losing hope. The dog wasn’t supposed to show us e relationship between the two creatures. The dog was showing us that it’s our emotions that really hurt us. Not the cold.

     The will to survive is really the major theme of this book. The chances that the man would survive was possible but he couldn’t bring himself to believing that  reality through to the end. That is what separates us from the animals. To be able to think that we wouldn’t make it. 

American Tradition?

                                               “Tradition is the illusion of permanence” -Woody Allen

    Traditions are a key part of bringing a family together. They shape who we all are and what your family is all like. Christmas is a holiday that is widely celebrated and appreciated in the country we live in. People love it so much. Why do they love it? Is it the presents, well you have birthdays, the winter spirit, you have New Years or Hanukkah, the giving, well what did I say for birthday. Maybe it’s about all those different joyous things  coming together.

     When I see this happening, it makes me wonder why Christmas is so much more popular in society than halloween or Easter Sunday. I am not religious, but I know what Christmas is about and what it’s supposed to be about. Some holidays are religious and some are regional. So why do we have a that much time of vacation off work or school. Many colleges have months off. And the televisions being graffitied with Christmas commercials. “Two dollars off Santa shaped bath soap! Now for only sixteen dollars plus shipping and handling!”

     I believe that Christmas was adapted by people and family’s to make them happy and to enjoy family and friends. Although with adaptation, It’s a little disappointing to see the advantages money grubbing companies take of people for extra money. And that throughout years, the holiday escapes the true meaning of the birth of Jesus and to celebrate it, giving joy.

     Many people think of Christmas as “A time to get that new PlayStation game” but it really isn’t. If this theme keeps up, in ten years, I don’t even know if Christmas will be the name of the holiday. So when celebrating Christmas, never take your mind off the true meaning even if some people want you to. 

What happened at the occurance at Owl Creek bridge

“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of interpretation.” -Unknown

     Interpretation is what makes a story great. When I read this story I was always wondering what would happen next and what was happening now. The occurrence at owl creek ranch is all about interpretation. Your mind is the only thing between you and certain death. It is capable of unthinkable things. 

    The story is about a confederate soldier during the civil war who was captured by the union and was about to be hanged at Owl Creek bridge. As he walked sorrily to the gallows, seeing others getting slaughter around him. When he got there he concentrated all his thoughts on his family as the noose slid around his neck. And as the door was pulled, the unthinkable happened. He managed to free his hands and escape. He fell into the river beneath the gallows and swam away while the union soldiers angrily fired at him. He escaped back home saw his wife at his doorstep. He ran up to hug her and right when he did. He started choking and died. 

    I really liked this story because it was very exiting and thrilling. I was always exited to know what would happen next throughout the whole story from exposition to resolution. Th ending was very interesting that it let me interpret what happened and why. Why he started choking at the end and if he really did escape. Was it a hallucination?, afterlife? The story let me think for myself and not just telling me what to think and view the story as.

    This story is no fairy tale. It is as sad as it is meaningful. The allegory makes you think about what death really is. And what happened is a mystery from the words of the page. Although the reader can interpret what happened in there own mind and that is what actually makes this story exiting.

The power of hard times

                                 “The darkest hour has only sixty minutes.” -Morris Mandel

     I have many great story’s about hard times. There is so many to choose from. Many seem to have great endings including perseverance or bravery. And they all have some sort of reward or good result at the end of it all. I don’t want to write about one of those. I’m writing about a time where it didn’t end up very well although it did shape me to be a different person entirely.

    Five years back. I went to the Lincoln Public School. I didn’t have many friends and most of the teachers and students I didn’t get along with. I got in trouble with the teachers a lot. It was a very different environment than I’m in now that I didn’t really seem to fit in with anything. The schoolwork and my activities seemed easy and from the outside it would look fine. My parents and friends thought that I was having I fine time from the look at it.

     And when I finally left, no one even said bye. I know this sounds dramatic, but the experience even though it was terrible, I somehow came out a better person. And I had the feeling that at my new school, I could make better friends and have a better time.

     This story didn’t exactly have a physically good outcome. Because when I left the school and went to the new school, everyone was so much different that is was almost hard to believe.

     The way that the school changed me, made it very hard to adjust and to this day I still don’t think I have fully adjusted from the environments.

     This experience made me rethink how I want to act. And I act very differently at home than at school or at summer camp. I have been given many chances to better myself and I believe that these chances have more than an lasting effect.