British-and-American-Literature-Assignments.doc

British and American Literature AssignmentsStudent Name 黄鹂Naturalism and Philosophy of Superman in the Call of the WildAbstract: In “The Call of the Wild”, Jack Londons classical work, he vividly portrayed an image “Buck”, expressing critical attitude Nietzsche and his philosophy of superman, as well as Naturalism. Key Words: “The Call of the Wild”, Naturalism, philosophy of supermanJack London（January 12,1876- November 22, 1916）was a brilliant American naturalistic writer who was born in San Francisco. He was brought up in extreme poverty. For the lifetime, with a lot of miserable experiences, he never stopped his struggle against poverty while devoted himself to writing. In a wide range of works, he created a series of heroes that expressed Naturalism and the power of superman. Particularly “The Call of the Wild”, his classical work, subtly delineates the inner world of a dog which transformed from civilized and moral creature into wild, cruel leader of a packs of wolves. The plot of this novel in fact reflects the nature of human being and reveals his philosophy of life. As far as I am concerned, Jack Londons ideas guiding his literacy creation are deeply influenced by Naturalism and “superman philosophy” of Friedrieh Nietzsche. Naturalism was first proposed and formulated by French novelist Emile Zola, and it was introduced to America by American novelist Frank Norris. Thus, American Naturalism was strongly influenced by French Naturalism. Meanwhile, The British philosopher Herbert Spencers social Darwinism that biological evolution laws are applied to the human world, where “Survival of the fittest” is used to explain the phenomena, and the social conditions after the Civil War also exerted great influence on the birth and development of Naturalism. During the war, people went through a lot of sufferings, struggling to survive, which also made great difference to the authors attitudes towards life and world. It is a theory in literature emphasizing scientific observation of life without idealism or avoidance of the ugly. Naturalistic writers were influenced by the evolution theory of Charles Darwin that is “Survival of the Fittest” They believed that ones heredity and social environment determine ones character and influence the actions of its subjects. Thus, anybody accustomed to the environment can exist on the earth, while those who didnt make adaptation would die out. Jack London was one of the most popular American writers of his time and regarded as one of the greatest naturalist novelists of America. He was deeply influenced by Darwins ideas of constant struggle in nature and “the survival of the fittest”. He showed his philosophy of naturalism completely in “The Call of the Wild” through the image of Buck, just as Stewart Doublday stated that theory of “survival of the fittest” was represented through every page of “The Call of the Wild” created by Jack London. Id like to take the hero “Buck” for example. Buck was born in a big house, raised as a member of a judges family. “But Buck was neither house-dog nor kennel-dog. The whole realm was his.” “During the four years since his puppyhood he had lived the life of a sated aristocrat.” However, it was sold by Manuel, the gardeners helper to northern America. On the way north, Buck was tortured badly, it was strapped by ropes, starved and beaten by clubs again and again. “As he looked at each brutal performance, the lesson was driven home to Buck: a man with a club was a lawgiver, a master to be obeyed. Under this circumstance, Buck adapted itself to survive in the hostile Northern land environment. “His development (or retrogression) was rapid. His muscles became hard as iron, and he grew callous to all ordinary pain. He achieved an internal as well as external economy. He could eat anything, no matter how loathsome or indigestible; and, once eaten, the juices of his stomach extracted the last least particle of nutriment; and his blood carried it to the farthest reaches of his body, building it into the toughest and stoutest of tissues. Sight and scent became remarkably keen, while his hearing developed such acuteness that in his sleep he heard the faintest sound and knew whether it heralded peace or peril. He learned to bite the ice out with his teeth when it collected between his toes; and when he was thirsty and there was a thick scum of ice over the water hole, he would break it by rearing and striking it with stiff fore legs.” In addition, so greatly did hunger compel him, Buck was not above taking what didnt belong to him. He “watched and learned”, Buck soon learned to steal. The first theft marked Buck as fit to survive in the hostile environment. It marked his adaptability and capacity to adjust to changing conditions. Then he learned to defeat enemies with courage and wisdom, he employed schemes and intrigues to get power, which is exemplified by the fact that Buck put the leading dog Spitz to death by hook, crook. Finally, he became a Buck “knew there was no middle course. He must master or be mastered; while to show mercy was a weakness.” “Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, was the law.” To sum up, as an animal, Buck adapted himself to the environment, so he won his right to guarantee his life in the hostile environment. Bucks deeds showed it is cruel and unfair that people live in misery and hunger. In human society, people can live better lives through adaptation to the environment. The big fish eats up the small, the weakest go to the wall, and the fittest survive, which is the fundamental law of Natural Selection for all creatures, just as Darwin stated. Jack London wholly agreed with this theory because of his miserable experience in his early years, learning that it is difficult to survive without proper adjustment to living conditions. On the other hand, Friedrieh Nietzsches “superman philosophy” is also fully expressed in this novel. This theory was brought forward in the end of the 19th century, which greatly influences western ideology. Nietzsche believed that being a strong man needs confidence, struggle and courage as well as resolution to have everything done, which endowed us with energy of impetus and rebirth. He wanted to replace God by willpower of human beings that was the non-stop power. In this way, only superman who was the creator and master of our civilization can help us to set up our objectives of existence. Because of living condition, sufferings as well as reading practices which are influenced by Nietzsches theories, Jack London accepted Nietzsches theory partly, paid worship to the spirit of superman from this philosophy, and put the role of individuals on the top of the list. At the same time he took for granted that he was superior to others, that is, being stronger, brighter and fitter to exist in the world. Thus, he supposed that he was the superman who could overcome all difficulties and barriers to take charge of the whole world. This ideology was embodied between the lines in his distinguished creations of “The Call of the Wild”. The dog “Buck” vividly portrayed by Jack London was an extremely tough figure that carried forward individualism and pursued freedom. For example, in chapter V the author stated that “His whole body was gathered compactly together in the tremendous effort, the muscles writhing and knotting like live things under the silky fur. His great chest was low to the ground, his head forward and down, while his feet were flying like mad, the claws scarring the hard-packed snow in parallel grooves.” From this section, it was clear that Buck became a superman instead of normal dog. In other plots, Buck rescued his last master with great effort for many times; He was resolved to be the leading wolf through a lot of brutal fighting. Finally he finished his slaughter and met primitive desire to be in control of the groups of wolves. Form these scenes created by Jack London, we can clearly find out Buck is the superman with great passion rather than a normal dog, his image reflected the character of willpower in literature: 继续It seemed that the author eulogized the