The nature is one of the greatest mysteries of the world; the value assumptions about the place of individuals in nature and their relationship to their canine companions is the issue discussed in two nice stories written by different authors. Thus the stories are A Blizzard under Blue Sky written by Pam Houston and To Build A Fire by Jack London.
The narrator of the story written by Pam Houston A Blizzard under Blue Sky seems to be a good person who loves her canine companions and winter camping. The story tells about the main character’s experience of the winter camping and the changes that happened due to this camping. In the very beginning of the story the reader comes to know about the reasons of the main character to experience winter camping, it was clinical depression: “What I saw was work that wasn’t getting done, bills that weren’t getting paid, and a man I’d given my heart to weekending in the desert with his ex” (Houston, 278). As the narrator said: “In truth, my life was on the verge of more spectacular and satisfying discoveries than I had ever imagined, but of course I couldn’t see that far ahead” (Houston, 278). Actually, the things were not so bad and the nature gave the protagonist a chance which did not seem pleasant at that moment, but became important taking into consideration the time past. The main character of the story written by Houston likes dogs and has two ones, which are represented as “yin and yang of dogs” (Houston, 278). The pets are described with specific tenderness and admiration. The narrator admires the beauty of the winter nature: “It’s fabulous here” (Houston, 280), addressing his statement to his dogs, his perpetual companions. The nature was aimed to help the narrator with the clinical depression “crystal-coated trees, all that diamond-studded sunshine” (Houston, 280). The end of the story shows the reader a wonderful influence of the nature on the narrator: “For the first time in many months I was happy to see a day beginning” (Houston, 281).
The second story is To Build A Fire by Jack London; it tells about a man who had a clear plan to meet with his friend, but he happened to underestimate the power of nature and the dangers that can be caused by experiencing the cold weather: “He reflected awhile, rubbing his nose and cheeks, then skirted to the left, stepping gingerly and testing the footing for each step” (London, 298). The nature is not depicted as a wonderful sight and magnificent expression of the world, but as dangerous aspect of our life that is enormous. The main character of the story does not realize the danger, though he knew that “after fifty below, a man should travel with a partner” (London, 303). He travels with a dog which seems to be his partner, but in the end of the story it appears to see only “food provider and fire provider” (London, 306) in his owner. The man experienced the coldness of the winter weather in a full sense, because he happened to get wet and “[t]he dead fingers could neither touch nor clutch” (London, 302). He tried to build a fire, but all his attempts were not successful at all. Then he remembered a certain story and made up his mind to kill the dog in order to renew blood circulation in his fingers. The end of the story showed the readers a “comfortable sleep” (London, 306) of the man.
The two stories provide descriptions of the winter nature and its magnificence as well as the relations of people with their canine companions. The first story shows how the nature and dogs help the main character revalued her life. And the second character neglected the influence of the nature and was punished for this.
Works Cited
Houston, Pam. “A Blizzard under Blue Sky.” Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Missy, James, and Alan Merickel. London: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. 278-281.
London, Jack. “To Build a Fire.” Reading Literature and Writing Argument. Missy, James, and Alan Merickel. London: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. 295-306.