While the settings and descriptive writing styles are alike, that is where the similarities end when comparing Jack London’s To Build a Fire and Richard Nelson’s The Gifts. The stories offer the wilderness in two distinct lights and suggest different ways of viewing the world and nature. The contrasting approaches to viewing the wilderness and Mother Nature seen in the stories describes two ways in which western culture views their surrounding environment.
To Build a Fire romanticizes the frozen world of the far north and follows a man who fails to respect the unforgiving nature of the earth. While his intentions are innocent, he chooses to travel into dangerous conditions without caution and his lack of preparation leads to his eventual failure and death. Jack London describes a man who has survived in the wilderness before and is considered skilled. However, you cannot always win every time you gamble and when Mother Nature wins the results are not always reversible.
While the character of To Build a Fire fails to respect the strength of nature, Richard Nelson’s The Gifts describes a man who has chosen to respect and treat the forest with a reverence not often followed today. The main character understands that to survive he must take from the wilderness, but he chooses to only take what he needs and do it with respect. There is almost a spiritual connection between nature and the main character as he becomes very close to the environment.
Western society looks to have portions of each mentality, but a stronger focus upon the views of Jack London whereby people do not respect Mother Nature and her power. People fail to prepare for the elements of the outdoors and in many cases every year lives are lost as a result. Many choose to view the wilderness as a never ending expanse of resources that can be harvested at any rate without repercussion or consequence. While there is not much standing between people and extracting the world’s resources, both authors suggest that a little reverence towards the provider should be issued. Ideas of moderation and respect area a simple effort to offer admiration to the wilderness that allows society to live as it does.
