Into the Wild

Jack London was one of Chris McCandless’ favorite authors. After reading “To Build a Fire,” consider the following elements, or themes, from the story and explain why each one might have appealed to McCandless: 3. Man vs. Nature

Jack London was one of Chris McCandless’ favorite authors. After reading “To Build a Fire,”
consider the following elements, or themes, from the story and explain why each one
might have appealed to McCandless:
3. Man vs. Nature

For the short story: https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/to-build-a-fire.pdf

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Chris McCandless didn't begin by opposing nature. To some extent he felt the natural world would be a kindred spirit like Thoreau experienced. Chris might have thought he understood the man's folly in To Build a Fire. I think Chris's hubris was not so much as underestimating or beating nature rather than his romanticized view of nature. Chris thought he would commune with the elements whereas, in reality, nature is harsh and indifferent to life.