Read the following quote and discuss how it applies to the main characters in both stories. In the course of this discussion, address how each of the characters is both similar and different:
“Determinisim governs everything … The writer must study the inherited traits of individual character and the social condition of the time. Together, these elements determine the course of any action, the outcome of any life. Free will or self-determination is mostly an illusion, although chance is granted a role in human affairs. Still, even the effects of chance are obliterated in the inevitable course determined by the interaction of inherited character traits and the social environment.“
The social condition of the time and the individual traits of the two main characters from “The Blue Hotel”, and “To Build A Fire” determined the outcome of their situations. Sweed from the Blue Hotel, was a sketchy man who believed he was in a bad situation. He character traits include shy, hesistant, and quiet. The prospector from To Build A Fire was an adventurous man who was traveling for a purpose and trying to reach a destination. The quote above applies to each of these stories. The social condition of The Blue Hotel was somber, and uncomfortable. The Sweed was being very awkward. The chance that the Sweed ended up in that town, on that night, in that hotel, was not by chance. Chance is an illusion. The Sweed’s course had already been pre-determined given his inherited traits and social environment. The environment that the prospector was in was a frozen, lifeless tundra. His character caused him to not press on. He chose to simply lie down and die after he had failed to dry his boots. His death had already been pre-determind. He was set to die in the Alaskan wilderness. The social environment in To Build A Fire was nonexsistent. There was no one to help him up when he failed. Determinism governs everything.
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