To Build A Fire, Written, by Jack London

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Naturalism
Naturalism is a literary movement in the late 19th and earlier 20th centuries. Naturalism is often detailed under realism. Naturalism relates the scientific method to philosophy by simply stating that social conditions, heredity and environment have an inescapable force in shaping human behavior. Nature is indifferent to human kind. Naturalism excludes all supernatural elements from its viewpoints. In naturalism, characters are important in the writing, although the authors give their characters less control over their lives. Naturalism relies on the truth that you can not control anything outside of yourself. Also, Naturalism notes that people without a lot of choices can not change the outcome of their lives, stating that people live without free will. What influenced naturalist authors to write in such a way that they can have no happy endings in their literature?
To Build A Fire, written, by Jack London was about a young man who went on a search of gold alone to the Yukon river. After falling in an underground spring, he is soaking wet and tries to build three fires to keep warm but is not able to sustain them. The man comes to the realization he is going to die if he does not find warmth. The young man gets the idea to kill his dog and to use the corpse to warm himself. The only problem is that dogs have the keen ability to sense danger. The story ends as the man "drowsed off into what seemed to him the most comfortable and satisfying sleep he had ever known".
The first naturalistic element of To Build A Fire is the difference between man’s way of thinking and the dog’s natural instinct. The second element is that the character is in a race against time with nature and nature wins the battle. To Build A Fire sh...

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...uit high school to study art. His parents eventually divorced. When traveling to Africa, he became victim to tropical fever and was also in trouble with Boer authorities. He led a bohemian life. Malaria caused him his death.
Edith Wharton was born to well known distinguished family who traveled Europe a lot and sent her to a large number of private schools after returning to New York. After returning to New York, her father grew ill and died.
As seen, The lives of these authors made a big influence in their writing. The authors of these naturalistic novels led unhappy lives leading them to think in the way that their characters lived. Regardless of some of the opportunities that the authors may have had, their lives did not turn out so well. Their unhappy and unfortunate lives growing up was the biggest influence in adding naturalistic elements to their literature.

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