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The role of nature in modern literature
Theme of nature in literature
Social darwinism novel
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Recommended: The role of nature in modern literature
Naturalism can be seen in Jack London’s To Build a Fire because it puts a regular person in extraordinary circumstances, putting the main character at the mercy of natural forces, the bitter cold. Throughout the story, it is obvious that nature holds no regard for man and is a powerful force not to be messed with. Naturalism is shown in this story by showing how people need to be careful at every corner, as death could reach them anywhere, waiting for them to commit a mistake that could take their lives. The story is about a man and his dog trying to survive the harsh below zero weather by building a fire. London uses social Darwinism, by showing survival of the fittest. The unnamed main character is unable to survive on his own in the cold
They say to “always be prepared for unexpected situations,” this represents the man in the short story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London. The man is unprepared because he does not
Naturalism is the most interesting type of literature, because it describes the actual circumstances of human life through its characters by giving the author the opportunity to make his/ her stories factual or realistic. The short story “Greasy Lake” by T C. Boyle is naturalistic because nature is literally referred to as the key to the progression of life. As for the novel “The Outsiders” by S. E. Hinton the author expresses naturalism through a 14- year old boy named Pony Boy Curtis. Pony struggles with right and wrong in a society in which he believes he is an outsider.
In literature, the faintest of details gives insight to very complex themes, ideas and narrative
Nature is always pushing man to his limits. When man heeds the warning signs that nature has to offer and those warnings of other men, he is most likely to conquer nature. When he ignores these warnings, nature is sure to defeat man. To build a fire is a prime example of this scenario. In the short story, “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, an inexperienced traveler in the Yukon travels alone with his dog, even though it is ill advised to do so. The man is strong and smart but nature humbled him during his quest to reach his friends. The man’s inexperience with traveling in the cold subzero temperatures doomed him from the beginning, but his strong focus under extreme pressure and his keen sense of observation are what allows him to survive as long as he did. The ignorance of the old-timer’s words of wisdom slowly haunts him and catches up with him in the end. The man’s disregard for nature’s power is his demise during his journey.
When Jack London wrote "To Build a Fire" he embraced the idea of naturalism because it mirrored the events of daily life. Naturalism showed how humans had to be wary at every corner because at anytime death could be there, waiting for them to make a mistake and forfeit their lives. He used naturalism, the most realistic literary movement, to show how violent and uncaring nature really is and how no matter what you do nature will always be there. London also presented the basic idea of Darwinism and the survival of the fittest, basically if you are dumb you will die. Collectively, London used naturalism to show how in life, humans can depend on nothing but themselves to survive. "To Build a Fire" is a short story that embodies the idea of naturalism and how, if one is not careful, nature will gain the upper hand and they will perish.
As Campbell describes, the characters in works of naturalism are typically of lower class and often are unable to cope with hardships they are dealt. Some naturalists even based their works on Darwin’s Theory of Evolution as they
Naturalism was a literary movement that took place from 1880s to around the 1940s. This movement used detailed realism to propose that social conditions, genetics, and the environment had unavoidable force in shaping human character. According to Zhang, “Naturalism was first proposed and formulated by French novelist Emile Zola, and it was introduced to America by American novelist Frank Norris.”(Zhang par.1) The term naturalism defines a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings. Naturalism writers often used the regularly ignored lower to middle classes backgrounds for characters in their stories. Naturalistic authors believe that the laws behind the forces that govern human lives might be studied and understood through the objective study of human beings. Natur...
Literature focuses on many aspects to form a coherent and captivating story, mainly those aspects retaining to characters and conflict. Within any story, a conflict arises for a character to overcome which drives the whole story. Conflict, the struggle against many forces of multiple varieties, creates the obstacle or issue a character must face to advance past the problem. In "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, conflict plays a major role in the story. The conflicts of man fighting against nature and man against himself present the struggles the unidentified man from "To Build a Fire" faces and attempts to overcome. These conflicts of man and nature influence the whole story and the fate of the character.
Naturalism is about bringing humans into the “natural world”. We, as humans, are seen as aspects of nature collectively not separate like they once were. “Naturalism holds that everything we are and do is connected to the rest of the world and derived from conditions that precede us and surround us. Each of us is an unfolding natural process, and every aspect of that process is caused, and is a cause itself ” (“A Guide for Naturalism”). Humans are like “animals” they contain the same drives that animals have. They are just plain “natural”. Many authors express naturalism in their writings such as Kate Chopin. She expresses a naturalistic view on sexual drives which classify her as a naturalistic writer.
In “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, the setting plays a significant role throughout the entire story. The chosen setting by London creates a specific and idealistic mood for his depressing story. It forces, as well as prepares, it’s audience to what the story holds. The amount of constant detail the story holds allows the reader to anticipate the ending that is inevitable to happen.
An Analysis of Jack London's To Build a Fire. In her cultural criticism of Jack London's "To Build a Fire", Jill Widdicombe explores the question of whether the story's protagonist might have perished from the extreme cold of the Klondike winter even if with a traveling companion. She describes the brutality of the winter weather and, alluding to the man's confidence in his ability to survive the weather, describes it as "behavior most of us can understand" - especially if we are accustomed to warmer surroundings. She states: "the extreme cold of frosty landscapes--or "The White Silence", as London describes it--is so quiet and abstract that it does not immediately appear to be lethal".
The Importance of Setting in Jack London's To Build A Fire In "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, the setting plays a. significant role throughout the entire short story. Jack London uses techniques to establish the atmosphere of the story. By introducing his readers to the setting, prepares them for a tone that is. depressed and frightening. Isolated by an environment of frigid weather and doom, the author shows us how the main character of the story completely unaware of his surroundings.
Literature, throughout history, has brought people together by inciting human emotions and portraying ideas felt across cultures. In the latter half of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century, the predominant culture in Europe was that of industrialism and the explosion of human knowledge and development. The revolutionary scientific discoveries of prominent biologists such as Charles Darwin caused a rift in the culture of the time period, challenging people to look at life in a completely new way. Beginning in the 1870s, many European authors began to write stories based on the emerging idea that one’s life circumstances result from an uncontrollable genetic predisposition (Lehan 3). This movement came to be known as naturalism and spread to America by the turn of the century, influencing authors like Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser, Upton Sinclair, John Steinbeck, and Émile Zola (Matterson). Literary naturalism, the movement that falls between realism and modernism in the evolution of literature, was a rather pessimistic literary movement which aimed to apply Darwinian principles to its characters and plot lines, study the human’s place in nature, and conclude that all fortune and misfortune in life is simply the result of heredity, instinct, and passion.
During a few decades, American society had been through different significant changes such as the Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, and Scientific Development. These changes had given a massive influence to the American literary movement in the nineteenth century. In fact, some of the literary works at that time are a reflection of those changes. One remarkable intellectual trend, which emerged in America in the nineteenth century and which subsequently became a literary movement is Naturalism (Kendir). In this case, Scientific Development is a major factor that influences the movement of literary naturalism. Charles Darwin is the one who brought up a new concept of sciences, in which Stephen Crane will use it as a concept for his short story “The Open Boat”. From Darwin’s book “The Origin of Species,” there are two concepts that can be found in “The Open Boat.” The first concept is natural selection, which means only individuals with certain advantageous characteristic will remain survived (Padian, 2009). Apparently, Crane used this Darwin’s idea as a foundation of the story for his short story “The Open Boat.” Then, the next concept is survival of the fittest which means nature only selected the fittest individuals that can adapt to any changes. In “The Open Boat,” Crane explicitly tells the readers the effort from the four men and their struggle for existence. In brief, the influence of Darwinism had played a pivotal role in literary movement by inserting a new philosophy and idea of life based upon science, in which this idea is used by Stephen Crane for his short story “The Open Boat.”
D.H. Lawrence was a very notable writer in his prime and although he was not known for being an active practitioner of naturalism during the literary period of naturalism, Lawrence used this type of literary work exceptionally well. D.H. Lawrence used the characters, themes and motifs throughout The Rainbow, and Lady Chatterley’s Lover to exemplify the themes, motifs and characterization techniques used by many authors during the naturalism period.