Answer: the general theme in the story is arrogance.
Step-by-step explanation: in this excerpt we can clearly see the description of an act of arrogance, the prospector is told, by an old man (that has a lot more of experience and wisdom) that he shouldn't travel alon in the wild of Alaska when the temperature is 50 below zero, the prospector, who thinks knows better, laughs at the old man, and goes to the wild (this is the act of arrogance), and then he learns his lesson when he cant's start a fire.