Imagine: a thick blanket of gleaming white snow covered everything around you. Cold air lashed at your rose red cheeks; and your fingers are numb and lifeless. However, you still have to continue on with your journey in this terrible weather until you get to camp. That’s what the main character in the book "To Build a Fire" went through; he failed to listen to the man who gave him a wise opinion and that is why this story turned out to be a tragedy.
Immediately the story starts out in conflict because this man is traveling outside in temperatures -75 degrees below zero; that is not safe. However, his rise to power is when he successfully makes a fire to warm himself; keeping him alive in the harsh weather. But, the man's tragic flaw is that he was "without imagination" and he can’t contemplate the things that could possibly go wrong and he can’t think of a way to be smart about them and fix it. Finally comes the tragic fall when he fails to make a fire when he is slowly freezing to death; it is his last attempt of surviving the cold and he fails. Ending in death the man dies from freezing; at first he fights for his life, but then he accepts his fate and lets death overcome him.
None of this would have happened if the man listened to the old guy who cautioned him that it is not safe to travel in this weather, especially alone. The true lesson of this story is that "one must not be too sure of things" and that you should take the advice of those who know better. Also, no matter what situation you are in; you must always be prepared for the worst.
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