To Build a Fire: Man's Intelligence is Foolish How many times have you seen birds flying south for the winter? They do not read somewhere or use some computer to know that they must fly to survive. In Jack London's "To Build a Fire", we see how that mans intelligence is sometimes foolish. The man, who is walking in seventy-five degrees below zero weather, lets his learned behavior override his instinct. Therefore, he dies. London's theme is that no matter how intelligent society becomes, we as a species should never discard our basic instincts. In the beginning of the tale we see that the man realizes it is cold, but only sees this as a