The Man
The Yukon, a place the sun is so afraid of it rises just above the horizon and dips back down again in hopes to get away the retched place. This is a terrain not to be messed with and yet in “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, the man in this story ventures out alone in unforgiving wilderness. With the temperatures far below zero, he lacks common sense and keeps going on for miles and miles in the freezing temperature. The man in this story is very ignorant towards the fact he will get frostbite and possibly die if he stays out in the cold; and yet he keeps going. He put his life on the line when he decided to go look for wood alone, and ultimately payed the price by dying in the ice cold Yukon.
The Man in “To Build a Fire” lacked a quality known as common sense when making decisions in this short story. One of his mistakes was even making the trip with the temperature being below negative fifty degrees. On page 134 it is quoted “He was not much given to thinking.” Representing he did not think over the situation. With temperatures that low any exposed skin will certainly get frostbite in a matter of minutes. Making it even less likely he will make it back to camp and live to see another day.
In his lack of common sense he is unable to take advice from anyone. In the short story he was given advice by an elder in sulphur creek to stay indoors during the cold weather. Even with that advice the Man left camp and went to look for wood. He felt the elder’s remarks were womanish and he thought he could outlast nature; but nature consumed him after ignoring these remarks.
Nature is a force no to be disturbed, because just like this Man it will eventually get you. In the Yukon nature is the law, like the Man if you believe you are better than nature you are absolutely wrong. The Man set out upon the Yukon thinking he could outwit nature, in the end he payed the price by giving his life.
Communism
The idea of a perfect world, a place where everybody is equal and money is shared equally among the people, to create a perfectly fair world. This is the idea of Communism, a political belief that everyone should be equal in possessions, food supply, and housing. Although this political idea seems like it’s the perfect world, is it? This is the case in the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Society has been driven to the point where the government makes everyone equal in every aspect of life. The handicapper general impairs the intelligent, makes the beautiful become a horrendous sight, all for equality among the people. This way of life is very unfair because it does not allow people to succeed like they do here in America today.
In America our government is run by a democratic system; where the people vote for leaders who support the same ideas as the people. The short story has a government set up like a communist government, which entitles everyone to have the exact same physical, mental, and facial characteristics. These restrictions symbolize what actual communism is like, it restricts you from perusing what you want because you are being told where to live, and where to work.
Communism began in 1917 after the Russia Russian Revolution, even though most European countries where still monarchies. Czarism had a substantial influence upon the beliefs of communism; czarism is the belief that government controls everything like in the short story. In the story the government agency, the handicapper general controls everyone by taking impairing their natural ability making them equal, similar to communism. The communism beliefs has four main planks to organize this power, Abolition of Private Property, Abolition to the rights of inheritance, Confiscation of property rights, and government control over every sector of work. In Harrison Bergeron, the government allows anyone to have any job whether they have the ability to perform the job correctly or not. One example in the story is the TV announcer’s inability to announce the breaking news because of his serious speech impairment.
Is it right to hold someone back and not let them reach their full potential? That is exactly the case in both a communistic society and in the short story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. People are being held from their full potential and the pursuit of happiness. There would never be any creative new ideas or products because people are not reworded for their ideas and hard work. Is this way of life really a perfect world?
Bibliography
Phiosophy All about. "Communism." 2002. Phiosophy All about. 8 3 2011
