Too Much Pride & Ego
How Foolish One Can Be
Pride and ego are two conscious subjects used for the mind and identity of a person. Both are interchangeable and coexist in the influence towards one’s success and failure. Ego is used in regards to self-esteem, self-worth and confidence. Whereas pride is the satisfaction of success and achievement. Together they determine a person’s strength and capability to complete tasks, how to carry oneself, handle situations and every day basic essentials. Pride and ego are beneficial for one’s whole-roundness but can be very detrimental to a person’s spiritual, mental and physical mindset.
The unnamed main character in “To Build a Fire” didn’t keep his pride and ego at bay during the entire short story. Jack London portrays this character as a man determined to reach his goal, no matter what the cost is. His goal is to met his friends at the campsite by 10 am but he doesn’t consider any external changes that are beyond his control. He never accounts for the severity of the weather. The weather is a constant threat to his survival but the protagonist seems to push through the boundaries without rightful recognizance. From the beginning, there are signs that depicts how cold and challenging the weather is and will become. For instance, “Day has broken cold and gray, exceedingly cold and gray..” (149). This iterates and re-enforces the ideal that this region is too dangerously unstable for any man, let alone a creature, to be traveling alone.
It is in a man’s nature to take charge and defy the odds but the protagonist threw caution to the wind long before this tale even started. With each step, he continued to make irrational decisions that put his life and his dog’s life in harm. The first mistake was traveling alone period; his only companion was his dog. Second mistake was lack of supplies for this “at risk” adventure. Third, was ignoring all signs provided by the harsh weather and his very own body. “He was sure to frost his cheeks; he knew that, and experienced a pang of regret that he had not devised a nose strap of the sort Bud wore in cold snaps” (151). It had even reached a point to where he contemplated this, “He would kill the dog and bury his hands in the warm body until the numbness went out of them” (156). This quote is true desperation, foolishness and regret due to the result of ego and pride. He didn’t considered thinking about the best outcomes and practical tactics such as escaping those circumstances. One best decision to had made was turning around instead of still pursuing the journey into extreme coldness. The moral of this story is to not let ego and pride consume your essence; don’t be the cause of your own failure, shortcomings, or demise.
