compare and contrast The adventures of Huckleberry finn and To build a Fire

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Build a Fire challenges the concept of perception verses reality. It is obvious that the characters in these stories have a hard time distinguishing between what they want to see and what is real. Because of this there is a constant internal battle within them. They both deal with different life or death situations that rely on this thin line between reality and perception. Although these stories are told from two very different points of views, they both share this concept. In To a Build Fire, examples of perception verses reality is show cased throughout the story. Jack London begins by describing the first of many lies that his character tells himself; " It was a steep bank, and he paused for breath at the top, excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch." He displays that he has no sense of his physical limits, which will prove fatal later on in the story. London gives a vivid description of his reality in the beginning of the story. The man was a newcomer to the land and it was also his first winter. It was fifty degrees below zero, but the man brushes it off as just being cold and uncomfortable. He ignores the reality of how cold it really is because all he can think about is going to see his buddies and how he wants to eat his biscuits sopped in bacon grease. London gives insight on what is wrong with the man, "The trouble with him was that he was without imagination." "He was quick and alert in the things of life, but only in things, and not in the significances." This means the man is quick and alert to his surroundings, but takes it with a grain...