“Man masters nature not by force but by understanding. This is why science has succeeded where magic failed: because it has looked for no spell to cast over nature”. From the beginning of time man and nature has been in conflict with one another because, as a whole, there is no cooperating. Each one tirelessly wants its way. The Man is fighting for dominance and nature w never yielding its authority. In American Literature, many authors illustrate this theme in their writing. Specifically the writers Jack London in The Law Of Life, Stephen Crane The Open Boat and Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Fin. Each explores the relationship between humans and nature but with slightly different methods. Mark Twain uses nature in a realistic way, Jack London in a naturalistic way and Stephen Crane constitutes a combination of both.
Jack London’s The Law of Life portrays the indifference of nature to the forthcoming death of an old man. Left to die in the snow by his tribe, nearly blind and lame, old Koskoosh lies beside a fire with only a trickle of twigs to keep him from subzero. He is aware of his impending end, but peacefully accepts the point that all men must die. With only hours of his life left, he reflects on the never ending rotation of life and death, on how even the most robust animal would fall prey to old age and its predators. In all this, he closes that nature does not care whether a man lived or died. ” He did not complain. It was the way of life, and it was just. He had been born close to the earth, close to the earth had he lived, and the law thereof was not new to him. It was the law of all flesh. Nature was not kindly to the flesh. She had no concern for that concrete thing called the individual” (Law). The man re...
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... Works cited
• London, Jack. "The Law of Life." The Bedford Anthology of American Literature Vol 2. 'Ed' 2008. Susan Belasco and Linck Johnson. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008.
• The Open Boat. Stephen Crane. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Gen. ed. Nina Baym. Vol. A. Norton, 2011.
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Gen. ed. Nina Baym. Vol. A. Norton, 2011.
• Bilgram, Akeel.What is realism. Posted by S. Abbas Raza at 01:00 AM.Web. 21.02.2014http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2013/08/what-is-realism.html
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• Jacob Bronowski Quotes. 21.02.2014 http://www.searchquotes.com/quotes/author/Jacob_Bronowski/Web.
Crane, Stephen. "The Open Boat." 1897. The Portable American Realism Reader. Ed. James Nagel and Tom Quirk. Penguin Book, 1997: 466- 87.
Clemens, Samuel. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter, et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Lexington: Heath, 1994. 236-419.
In the short story “ The Open Boat,” by Stephen Crane, Crane does an outstanding job creating descriptive images throughout the entire story. With saying this, Crane uses symbolism along with strong imagery to provide the reader with a fun and exciting story about four guys who 's fight was against nature and themselves. Starting early in the book, Crane creates a story line that has four men in a great amount of trouble in the open waters of the ocean. Going into great detail about natures fierce and powerful body of water, Crane makes it obvious that nature has no empathy for the human race. In this story, Crane shows the continuous fight that the four men have to endure in able to beat natures strongest body of water. It 's not just nature the men have to worry about though, its the ability to work together in order to win this fight against nature. Ultimately, Crane is able to use this story, along with its vast imagery and symbolism to compare the struggle between the human race and all of natures uncertainties.
Watt, Bob. “TO EVERY THING THERE IS A SEASON AND A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNDER THE HEAVEN – A TIME TO BE BORN AND A TIME TO DIE.1 NATURAL LAW, EMOTION AND THE RIGHT TO DIE.” Denning Law Journal 1.24 (2012): 89-115. University of Buckingham
The epic poem, Beowulf, a work of fiction, offers more insight into Ancient Anglo-Saxon English culture than the work of Bede, who wrote, A History of the English Church and People. The epic poem Beowulf gives an enhanced illustration and clearer understanding of the culture of the Ancient Anglo-Saxon’s. The epic poem gives the audience a picture of what the Ancient Anglo-Saxon English valued; seafaring, warriors, heroes, and paganism.
Magill, Frank. Survey of American Literature. Vol. 6 Ste-Z 1885-2224. Marshall Cavendish Co. New York. Copyright 1991. Edited by Frank Magill.
Have you ever felt stuck? Wherever you are, it’s the absolute last place you want to be. In the book Into the Wild, Chris McCandless feels stuck just like the average everyday person may feel. Chris finds his escape plan to the situation and feels he will free himself by going off to the wild. I agree with the author that Chris McCandless wasn’t a crazy person, a sociopath, or an outcast because he got along with many people very well, but he did seem somewhat incompetent, even though he survived for quite some time.
Stephen Crane’s short story, “The Open Boat” speaks directly to Jack London’s own story, “To Build A Fire” in their applications of naturalism and views on humanity. Both writers are pessimistic in their views of humanity and are acutely aware of the natural world. The representations of their characters show humans who believe that they are strong and can ably survive, but these characters many times overestimate themselves which can lead to an understanding of their own mortality as they face down death.
Baym, Nina. “The Norton Anthology of American Literature.” Rev. 6 ed W.W. Norton & Company: New York, 2003.
Twain, Mark, and Cynthia Johnson. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print.
Twain , Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2003.
What makes a good person good? According to WikiHow, "We should learn to define our own morals ourselves. One of the simplest ways to do so is to love others, and treat them as you would like to be treated. Try to think of others before yourself. Even doing small things daily will greatly enrich and improve your life, and the lives of others around you." This quote shows us what we need to do in order to be what society thinks as, “good". In order to be a good person, you have to do good and moral things in your society consistently. However people might think that by doing one good thing once in a while will automatically make you a “good person”, but in reality it doesn’t.
Crane, Stephen. "The Open Boat." Discovering Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays. Ed. Hans P. Guth and Gabriele L. Rico. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997. 245-261.
Crane’s representation of man’s epic battle against nature, is beyond the simple need to determine mankind’s place in the order of the universe, it is a tale denoting man’s ability to persevere in the
London, Jack. "The Law of Life." Children of the Frost. N.p.: Macmillan, 1902. N. pag. Rpt. in McDougal Littell Literature: American Literature. By Janet Allen et al. Evanston: McDougal Littell, 2008. 746-52. Print.