Naturalism in Jack Londons “To Build a Fire” Essay

Even with our ability to tame some sides of genius, there are still accredited conditions and forces which are beyond control we inevitably are left with no exit, agentless ag personalst reputations indifferent influence. This struggle against nature is depicted by many authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries, victimisation key concepts of indwellingism and determinism, a key comp wiznt of natural scientist theory, as a foundation and doctrine for many of these stories. horseshit capital of the United Kingdom and Stephen Crane are notorious for their writings which have been regarded as cornerst wizs of naturalist theory in classic Ameri jakes literature. Stories such as to Build a drop, The Bride Comes to yellow Sky, convey themes of naturalism and universal determinism in golf-club to show the protagonists neediness of free will in his constant battle with nature, often foreshadowing catastrophe and displaying natural consciousness found inside each grapheme. In th eory of Naturalism, nature holds certain precepts that up to now our own will and integrity cannot bend or break. Charles Darwin, creator of the theory of evolution, believed in patterns of natural selection and that over period our environment will shape our genetics. Even we as humans, in Darwin theory, are susceptible to change as we have no free will and our environment shapes and determine things for us.We in speculation have no control over our own fates we altogether have choices that will lead us towards a certain future, ace that is decided by nature, and not the individual. In the composition, To Build a Fire, London makes us aware that the protagonist is completely unaware of that notion, he believes with his own determination and will he can conquer the deepest hardships of the wild, attempting to defy the words spoken to him by the old man at Sulphur Creek. The adventurer simply believes through his own resolve that this expedition is simply an obstacle to which he can survive, and when cook against nature in this environment, survival is the key concept, a profound element when talking somewhat Naturalism. The forces of nature and its destructiveness are beyond the protagonists control, and London makes that point when he talks intimately the cold and its effects on the explorer, saying But, rub as he would, the instant he stop his cheekbones were dull, and the following instant the end of his nose went numb.(London, pg 1064) though the man, through his own determination, attempts to warm himself by attrition his cheeks and the end of his nose with his mitten, he is unable to fulfill this desire, as nature takes hold of his destiny.This sense that nature prevails can also be read in lines such as He pulled the mitten on the decently hand, and beat it fiercely against his knee (London, pg 1064) He is essentially fighting, savagely, against nature though is unable to triumph. It is somewhere mingled with his spittle freezing and his f ace forming frostbite that the man should come to some conclusion about his pop out in nature. Yet as London described before, his inability to recognize the significance of nature and her power puts him in an awful position. His conceit will continue to lead him towards a desolate and bleak future, until lastly he will become helpless and feeble amongst the supremacy of nature. It is important to note that the first nonessential sprung on to the char encounterer in this story is passed off as something of bad percentage, He cursed his luck aloud(London, pg 1063 ). The word luck whether bad or good, implicates his lack of free will, luck is something not controlled by him, as suggested by the naturalist theory. It is even more important to take note of phrasing utilize in his second and well-nigh devastating contingency.London uses the phrase, It was his own fault or, rather his mistake(London, pg 1062) when describing the role when the spruce tree collapses onto his final ch ances for survival. London follows fault with mistake in order to convey to the subscriber that his fault would mean him bearing responsibility, rather it is past stated as a mistake, meaning an incident a bit more outside of his control. In the naturalist theory there are choices, but all choices lead towards certain shape futures. The man made the ill-fated decision to build his raise chthonic the tree shrouded in tons of reversal, just as all through the story he has been continually attempting to overcome natures wrath throughout the story. His conceit had caught up with him as nature took control of the mistake and extinguished his further chances of making it out alive. Survival as mentioned before is a key concept of Naturalism, it is vital in the struggle against nature, in order to beat the unfavorable conditions of nature, one must survive. In order to survive one must have keen souls to thrive in the wild, and in the story, London uses the mans mammal companion a nd his owner, in order to show this compulsion for instinct.The protagonist has a certain level of consciousness, which gets him by, yet he still needs matches to create his squeeze outand he needs a map in order to guide him to certain locations, all which calculate ones intellect. None of these require instinct, only a certain methodology and knowledge of the items. In the sense of his intellect as opposed to the dogs instinct, the mans knowledge of his complicated tools can only take him so far, but eventually lead to error, such as his fingers becoming too numb to strike his matches to create a fire. The dog on the other hand is able to rely exclusively on instinct in order to overcome the veracity of nature, such as burying itself into the snow when it becomes cold or gnawing the ice between its extremities. Although the man cannot rely on fur in order to keep his warmth, London still shows us that the instinct of the dog prevails the mans subpar intellect. London even agr ees upon the statement, This man did not know cold. Possibly all the generations of his ancestry had been ignorant of cold, of real cold, of cold one hundred and seven degrees below freezing-point. But the dog knew all its ancestry knew and it had inherited the knowledge.(London, pg 1061) If the man had correspondent instinct as the dog and understood the severity of the cold, he could have been more cautious in his approach and possibly survived the misfortunes to come or not even have began the expedition of impending doom.Though the man took his intellect for granted, if his instinct were stronger he would have known not to build his fire under the tree. His method had led him thus far and would eventually lead him to death, as the dog would survive and victimisation his instincts to find the nearest suppliers of food and fire. In Cranes novel, The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, Crane has set up an environment which contrast the more natural element of the Yukon in To Build a Fire. The story revolves more or less a more civil setting, with the town of Yellow Sky which serves as a reflection of the old west. Coming back to the notion of determinism, it can be found that every character has a notable lack of free will amongst caller. Even at the beginning of the story the protagonist, Jack Potter, is on a train which is very symbolic of his lack of free will, a continuous and predetermined path. Also we get a sense of the influence of nature on Jack as the story depicts , The mans face was reddened from many days in the wind and sun, and a ask result of his new black clothes was that his brick-colored hands were constantly performing in a most conscious fashion.(Crane) As the story progresses the reader is informed of Jacks current condition, to which hehas claimed to have gone headlong over all the accessible hedges( Crane )This custom of going against societal norms describes yet another characteristic of naturalism, just as in Londons story, we attend to a man who defies advice and travels into the heart of the Yukon alone. Also this defiance of social values shows the animal like instinct within Potter, whether he was acting out of lust or loneliness, he resorted to some sharp impulse which presents an instinct within himself, one not well thought out. He is nervous in his approach towards category and his attempt to exercise free will has proved disheartening as he fears what others might speak out of his illicit behavior. He is confined and his will is broken. As the perspective switches to Yellow Sky we see a town very much stuck in the tradition of the old west. With the social conventions surrounding Yellow Sky, society have again proved as an authoritive and dominating control. The town is almost dictated by societal customs, such as the closing of the saloon when scratchy strolls through befuddled and bellicose. This is routine for the town as the bar tender mentions No, he cant break down that door, replied the barkeep er. Hes move it three times.(Crane) Almost satirizing the idea of the old west as nobody is that distraught except for the drummer from the east.This act of Scratchy continuously terrorizing the town gives us the idea of the force of social conventions and their plight upon the town. Determinism dictates the town as they wait while Scratchy displays his power and for their sheriff to eventually show up and smother Scratchys hostility. When Jack shows up with his new bride it can be inferred that Crane introduces the hero aspect detailed in the theme of naturalism. Throughout the book we see a man who is quite nervous and hesitant around his bride, but when pitted against his old adversary Scratchy, Jack takes up the role of the hero. When approached by Scratchy he is vulnerable and relates this to scratchy when he says, You know I fight when it comes to fighting, Scratchy Wilson, but I aint got a gun on me. Youll have to do all the shootin yourself.(Crane) Throughout the story we s ee that Jack has a hindered sense of free will as he frets over societies view of himself and it is then foreshadowed he will encounter his long time foe Scratchy who dictates Jacks everyday melodic line as Sheriff. But it is here at the end that we see Jack triumph over these social concerns by sacrificing himself and then overcoming Scratchy.By the end of the story we Jack as the ideal naturalisthero, one who has overcome the dilemmas of the natural world. Naturalism is an idea that can explain many aspects of society. For instance the very rationality I write this paper is to earn a degree that I must obtain in order to live a better life in the future, whether or not it is truley what I requisite to pursue. There are non-fictional accounts of men whom have abandoned the tyranny and mediocrity of their society and entered the wild only to gain a freedom theyve never had, some of whom are inspired by these naturalistic writers. London and Crane give their readers a sense of wha t nature holds, often conveying how wonderfully aesthetic the natural world can be.It is possible to learn from naturalism and the literature that surrounds it, to understand how powerful nature is and how impair society has become. All of our naturalistic heroes whether fictional or non fictional, give out this life in a like manner. They pass fighting the wilderness, conquering society, or stepping outside of their own confines and crossing new bounds. When they depart this life it is death by surviving in the natural world, a place where only fewer truths in this world are found. In the midst of their last moments, they slip into the most comfortable quietus they have ever known.