Courting Futility in “To Build a Fire,” “The League of the Old Men,” and “The Chrysanthemums”

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Jack London and John Steinbeck are both notable figures in the annals of 20^th-century American literature, but this fact alone is not the only thing they have in common. Their affinity toward literary realism is also a similarity between the two, as are the common themes they sometimes explore in their works. One of such themes is the idea of the inexorable futility of one’s efforts when faced with overwhelming external power. This power can come in the shape of nature or history, as in London’s “To Build a Fire” and “The League of the Old Men,” or social mores, as in Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums.” Yet despite this difference, all three stories have one thing in common in how their protagonists bring this futility upon themselves. By paying insufficient attention to their surroundings, the main characters of all the stories discussed participate in ultimately making their struggles futile.

London’s “To Build a Fire” – quite likely the most famous of the author’s short stories – tracks the trail of a lone wanderer in the Yukon Territory at the turn of the 20^th century. The man is traveling to the camp where his associates, only identified as “the boys,” are waiting for him (London, “Build a Fire” 65-66). However, he is not an experienced traveler and survivalist but “a newcomer in the land” and, as such, not prepared all too well to treat the dangers of the frozen land seriously enough. When he loses his footing and gets his feet wet – a certain death sentence with the temperatures that cold – he attempts to build a fire and warm himself up. However, the lack of experience when surviving in the Yukon frustrates all his attempts. First, the fire is extinguished by a massive fall of snow from the tree branches, and then the man’s fingers are too numb to operate matches. In the end, all attempts to warm up prove to be futile, and the protagonist, one sure of his capabilities, falls prey to the Yukon cold.

The futility with which the main character tries to build a titular fire is no accident – rather, it is the direct consequence of his own carelessness and insufficient preparation. The harsh nature and the extreme cold of his environment are stressed even further by London’s “infernal rendering of the unforgiving Yukon wasteland” (Hillier 173). The man, however, is unable to appreciate the full seriousness of his situation. His downfall is sure and inevitable because he ignores both “instinct… and racial wisdom” represented by the story’s other characters (Pizer 222). Having more experience surviving in the Yukon would have prevented him from making a fire under the tree branches heavy with snow – or traveling alone at all, come to that matter. Yet the man ignores the others’ warnings, be that the advice of the “man from Sulphur Creek” or the troubled behavior of his dog, and brings his own death upon him (London, “Build a Fire” 70). As a result, he participates in his death, and the futility of his repeated attempts to build a fire is merely an extension of his own foolishness.

Belonging to the same author, “The League of the Old Men” explores the concept of futility in a different way, even though the protagonist’s efforts bear no more fruit than in “To Build a Fire.” An elderly Native American named Imber comes to the town of Dawson to give himself up for trial voluntarily. His crimes are the killings of whites over the last few decades, and the list of his victims is so extensive they do not “permit of precise enumeration” (London, “League”). In a courtroom, Imber tells a grim tale of how contact with the whites has corrupted the indigenous population and made them weaker and unable to resist Anglo-Saxon expansion. His solution to the problem is “to cleanse the land of the evil breed” of invading whites by killing them one by one (London, “League”). Since the indigenous youngsters are too soft and corrupted by the influence of alcohol, tobacco, and the whites’ way of life, it is up to old men to proceed with this idea. Yet, despite all the killings, the whites never stop coming, making Imber realize the futility of his efforts and give up.

Much like “To Build a Fire,” this story also demonstrates how the futility of Imber’s actions comes from his own lack of understanding of what he tries to fight against. While he cannot be blind to the reality of whites influencing and threatening the indigenous people, he cannot decipher the reasons behind this historical process. As he puts it when speaking about Anglo-Saxons, “theirs the whiskey, and tobacco, and short-haired dogs; theirs the many sicknesses, … theirs the white skin, and softness to the frost and storm (London, “League”). Yet despite epitomizing all these weaknesses to his eye, the whites multiply and become ever stronger, and Imber remains unable to understand the reasons behind this process. Even in the courtroom, faced with the “machinery of the trial,” he still cannot grasp the concept of writing and its potential advantages (Reesman 65-66). Thus, Imber embarks on his crusade against the whites without understanding the technology and organization that make them so powerful and thinking that killing them off would solve the problem. By engaging what he cannot comprehend, the protagonist makes his efforts futile even before he starts.

Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums” provides yet another glimpse at the theme of futility, this time coming in the shape of patriarchal social norms of the early 20^th century. The protagonist, Elisa, lives the life of a housewife with her husband on a ranch. With the “limited social freedom” of the time, Elisa still becomes exceptionally good at one of the few vocations available to her – growing chrysanthemums (Hashemipour et al. 36). When a traveling artisan asks for work and Elisa has none, he mentions knowing a lady down the road who would be glad to have some chrysanthemums like Elisa’s. Ecstatic with somebody appreciating her for something she does herself – and, thus, validating her independent agency – Elisa provides him with a couple of pots with saplings. They even have a conversation where she expresses her wish that “women could do such things” – that is, have more independence and employment opportunity (Steinbeck 7). Later this day, Elisa learns that the man threw the plants away to keep the pots, making her realize the utter futility of her attempts to gain men’s respect and recognition under existing conditions.

While it might seem too far-fetched to say that Elisa participates in ensuring this futility, it is true as far as the story’s specific plot is concerned. Elisa did not create the patriarchal norms that limit her opportunities and does not endorse them either. However, when deciding to trust the traveling artisan, she deliberately chooses to ignore the signals pointing to his untrustworthiness. When first speaking of chrysanthemums, the man says they “smell kind of nasty” but changes his tune immediately after learning Elisa likes it (Steinbeck 5). Moreover, his claim to know a flower-planting lady down the road comes soon after he admits he is “off [his] regular road,” meaning he would not be familiar with people around these parts (Steinbeck 5). The man’s deceit becomes the last straw that makes Elisa succumb “to the social modes” but is no surprise to the reader, as she could have seen this deceit coming (Maiti 12). Much like the protagonists of “To Build a Fire” and “The League of the Old Men,” she fails to read and interprets the signs – and, in this sense, courts and ultimate futility of her efforts.

To summarize, “To Build a Fire,” “The League of the Old Men,” and “The Chrysanthemums” all discuss the topic of futility that the protagonists ultimately bring among themselves. A young traveler from “To Build a Fire” is ignorant of the many danger of the cold Yukon wasteland and fall prey to the unforgiving cold because of ignoring the collective wisdom of survival. Similarly, Imber from “The League of the Old Men” attempts to eradicate whites, whom he views as a pestilence upon the land, without understanding what makes them strong – and unsurprisingly fails as well. Finally, Elisa from “The Chrysanthemums” is eager to help the man who demonstrates a superficial and insincere interest in her achievements despite the warning signs of his untrustworthiness. The thing all three characters have in common is this inability to properly understand the situation they are involved in – and futility is not a coincidence but a natural and expected result in this regard.

Works Cited

Hashemipour, Saman et al. “A Twentieth-Century Countrywoman in Steinbeck’s ‘The Chrysanthemums’: A Socio-Cultural Study of Oppression.” International Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Translation (IJLLT), vol. 2., no. 3., 2019, pp. 36-41.

Hillier, Russell. M. “Crystal Beards and Dantean Influence in Jack London’s “To Build a Fire (II).” ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes, and Reviews, vol. 23, no. 3, 2010, pp. 172–178.

London, Jack. “The League of the Old Men.”American Literature.

London, Jack. “To Build a Fire.”U.S. Department of State.

Maiti, Abhik. “A Story of Repressed Feminism: Exploring Steinbeck’s Women Characters with Special Reference to ‘The Chrysanthemums’.” International Journal of English Language and Linguistics Research, vol. 5, no. 1, 2017, pp. 1-14.

Pizer, Donald. “Jack London’s ‘To Build a Fire:’ How Not to Read Naturalist Fiction.” Philosophy and Literature, vol. 34, no. 1, 2010, pp. 218-227.

Reesman, Jeanne C. Jack London’s Racial Lives: A Critical Biography. University of Georgia Press, 2009.

Steinbeck. John. “The Chrysanthemums.”Weebly.

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Courting Futility in “To Build a Fire,” “The League of the Old Men,” and “The Chrysanthemums”

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