Examples Of Realism In To Build A Fire

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Realism is accepting that a situation is actually happening. People should read more stories based on realism so they can be better prepared for those real-life moments. There are many characteristics of realism in these stories, such as the struggles of real life, gritty details, and dialect. In “To Build a Fire,” an unnamed man struggles to keep warm while battling below-zero temperatures. He was unsure of how he could be cautious in this strange environment. “He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in the things, and not in the significances. Fifty degrees below zero meant eighty-odd degrees of frost. Such fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable” (pg. 332). The man was not aware of his surroundings, therefore, he was clueless as to what was going to happen. He was struggling, trying to stay safe in this monstrous cold. “He was surprised, however, at the cold. It certainly was cold, he concluded, as he rubbed his numb nose …show more content…
When working at the meatpacking plant, workers had to accomplish harsh tasks, outstandingly in slaughtering the cattle. “It was a nasty job killing these, for when you plunged your knife into them they would burst and splash foul-smelling stuff into your face” (pg. 352). This job is very sickening, considering the fact that the workers get the blood of an animal on themselves as they are cutting it’s raw meat. The working conditions were very poor; numerous people lost their lives when they were just trying to do their jobs. “Let a man so much as scrape his finger pushing a truck in the pickle rooms, and he might have a sore that would put him out of the world” (pg. 353). The workers in The Jungle were all in danger due to the dreadful jobs they participated in. The gritty details explained throughout this story prove it. Those gritty details told readers about the working conditions of a meatpacking plant, and about how horrendous the workers there were