分析《野性的呼唤》中巴克回归自然的原因---毕业论文 精品

【标题】分析《野性的呼唤》中巴克回归自然的原因【作者】文程娟【关键词】回归；原因；冷酷；追求与向往【指导老师】吴学容【专业】英语【正文】I. IntroductionThe Call of the Wild, written by Jack London, was a very famous work in literature field. American writer, Jack London, was very good at describing things and society in the shoes of animals, that is, in personification. So does this work. In this novel, the story happened in the process of gold rush where people need be nefit themselves on the basis of other’s loss or sufferings. Dog protagonist, Buck, was living in this circumstance. He experienced both the warmth and the coldness of human society. Jack London used the style of personification to describe the nature of human and the world in dog’s eye which can full reveal the coldness and cruelty of the Capitalist Society. There are many reasons, both in subjective and objective that led the return of Buck to the wild. Many scholars in domestic have made some studies of this work which were meaningful. It not only can help us learn some society and literary knowledge but also understand this classic work clearly and deeply.Buck’s return to the wild was not caused by one reason but many. The subjective ones were the characteristics of Buck himself which were hidden in human warmth and revealed in the struggles to survive. The main objective reason was the fact of Struggle for Existence that no one can escape, and other reasons included the coldness and cruelty of human society and the call of the wild. Buck’s life in this cruel and cold circumstance decided that his return to the wild was not occasional but inevitable. However, the author, Jack London, also made some drama effects. The experiences of Buck in human society were not the only purpose for Jack London to write this story, but to criticize the darkness of the Capitalist Society and reflect his wish, that is, the desire of freedom and dream.There will be five main reasons analyzed in this essay, including the characteristics of Buck; the brutal principle of Struggle for Existence; people’ behaviors in the process of gold rush; the call of the wild and the drama effect made by Jack London.Ⅱ. Literature ReviewA. The Background of the author—Jack LondonJack London was a famous and productive American realistic writer who lived in 20th century with rich but hard experiences in all his life. He came from lower class with a suffering childhood and had a better understanding of the life of poor people. Because of his poor birth and background, Jack London tried many ways to get rid of the poor situation. Such as, went outside to do part-time job; to be sailor and joined the troop of gold rush. Unfortunately, these tries didn’t change the suffering situation. But he didn’t lose the interest in reading. Books companied him during all his hard life. Those hard experiences enriched his knowledge which made contribution to his later writing work. He began his writing career after his failure of gold rush in Alaska. His works were full of strength and strong revealing. The work, the Call of the Wild, was one of his most famous animal novels, in which the gold rush life filled with dangers and struggles of dogs in this special circumstance were deeply described.Jack London left more than 50 pieces of works in his 16 years’ writing career. After being well-known, he indulged in the pleasure of materials. At last, he committed suicide because of the emptiness and disappointment in his mental world.B. The Story of the Call of the WildThe story mainly talked about the process of dog protagonist, Buck’s return from human civilization to primitive wild living with the wolves. Buck was a very strong wolf dog with 140 pounds in weight. He could have lived a comfortable life in a Judge’s place. Unluckily, he was stolen to sell by Judge’s gardener. He was first sold to the Post Office then two French Canadian. These dogs were not only abused by brutal human, but also had to fight and kill with each other for survival. Because of the powerfulness both in physical and mind, Buck won the former leader to be the new leader in the sledding team after a serious fight. Buck had been sold several times in his life with human. Finally he was adopted by John Thornton just when he was beaten nearly to death. Buck recovered quickly under the careful treatment of John Thornton and they made friends with each other. Buck was extremely faithful to his new master. He had ever saved John Thornton twice from dangers. Unfortunately, John Thornton was killed in the process of gold rush. Buck was very angry and bit several Indians to death to take his master’s revenge. He had no affection for human society any more after the death of his master. Meanwhile, there was always a call in forest attracting him. Finally, he obeyed the call and returned to the wild living with wolves. However, he didn’t forget John Thornton but mourn for his master regularly.Ⅲ. The Subjective Reason of Buck’s Return—the Characteristics of Buck Buck had the characteristics of wolf all the time. His wild nature was only hidden in human’s society but not disappeared. When he lived in the sledding team and suffered disastrous experience, it’s no doubt that his wild nature will be revived one day, and lead his return to the wild at last. Buck’s birth made him has the characteristics of wolves. Buck was ahalf-breed whose father was a huge St. Bernard dog and mother a Scotch shepherd dog. Therefore, He grew up with a strong body of St. Bernard dog and cunning of shepherd dog. He learned to fight with cut; slash and quick wolf snap easily when he went hunting with his master in his earlier life, for this was also the manners of his ancestors. When chasing a snowshoe rabbit, he wanted to run the wild thing down and killed it with his teeth and fel t a sense of joy to kill. Buck’s instincts of wolf had never disappeared but been hidden by comfortable life in human society. The sledding life made his old instincts revived gradually. He was clever and cunning. The fight with Spitz, the leader dog of the team, was evidence. When he thought the time was not advantageous for him to beat Spitz down , he avoided conflicting with Spitz directly but thought of many ways against Spitz, such as interference between Spitz and culprits in the absence of his master; rebellion in secret. After the death of Spitz, he thought he would be the leader dog. When his master didn’t do what he thought of, he refused to sled in the condition that he must be in the leader position. His master had no method but obeyed him. Meanwhile, he adapted the environment quickly. For example, after experiencing the sorrow of being beaten by club, he realized that the struggle and revolt were in vain when meeting with club. So he would be a good dog in this situation. In the life of sledding, he even gave up the fastidious habits and ate disgust food to make himself strong after being aware of the true reality; he also learned how to find a comfortable place to sleep and how to steal food without being suspected and caught. In fact, all his nature was kept in his mind even though he lived with human. The life and experiences in the sledding team just created a condition for his nature’s revival.The call in Buck’s inner world was another factor of his wild revival and return. Although he loved John Thornton deeply, the primitive instincts still remained alive and active. He was faithful and devoted, but he still retained his wildness and wiliness for he was a thing of the wild. He would not steal John Thornton’s things but others without being suspected. The best thing Buck loved to do was to lie beside the fire. However, he would not think of the comfortable life in Judge’s place for it was far away from him and had no influence on him anymore. The most powerful thing was the memories of his heredity that could give things he had never seen before a seeming familiarity which in fact were the memories of his ancestors. And these memories were revived in his body in later days. Actually, he kept the nature in mind and desired returning to wild. But it was just the love for John Thornton that kept him in human society.Sometimes he did things without realization. Every time he heard the yelps in forest, he couldn’t help turning his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it and plunging into the forest and ran and ran. He didn’t know where or why; nor did he wonder where or why. When he chased a snowshoe rabbit, he only wanted to kill it with his sharp teeth, but he still didn’tknow why he wanted to do it like this. Buck also had a patience of the wild, which was expressed when he hunted living food. Buck showed this patience when he clung to the flank of the herd. He didn’t kill the target one at once but shadow the group and separated it from their group for his power was not enough against a group. At last he pulled the great moose down after four days’ shadow and ate it in a primitive way full of wild joy. He did this in the ways of wolves and enjoyed the victory. All of these happened from Buck’s instincts even he himself didn’t realize i t.Ⅳ. The Objective Reasons of Buck’s Return to the WildExcept for the subjective reason of Buck’s return to the wild which was caused by Buck’s characteristics, there are also objective reasons, including the brutal principle of Struggle for Existence; the coldness of people’s behaviors in the process of gold rush; the call of the wild and the drama effect. All of them are helpful to the revival of Buck’s wild nature. They are very important leading the return of Buck to the wild.A. The Brutal Principle of Struggle for ExistenceNatural principles were disciplines that nobody can violate. When facing them, people can do nothing but obey them and do things regularly. The evolution of living creatures was also the product of natural principles.1. The Int roduction of Darwin’s Theory of Struggle for Existence and Natural SelectionDarwin was a very famous British biologist who wrote a book called the Origin of Species. In the book he proposed the principles of Struggle for Existence and Natural Selection.Struggle for Existence—According to Darwin, every species will have relations with its surroundings in the life process, and every life will compete and fight with others for existence, for the surroundings will influence its life and descendants. So the species must fight with the circumstance around him. 1Natural Selection—There always exists struggles among living things. The fittest will survive and the unfittest will be eliminated. The species inherits and evolutes in this way.2 This is so-called Natural Selection. The Darwin’s theory has made a great contribution to species’ evolution.2. The Cruel Survival Rules Which Leads the Revival of Buck’s Wild Nature Just like what Wang Changrong, a Chinese scholar, said in his work, the History of American Mo dern Novels, the determined factors of Buck’s moderate characteristics in human society and his return to the wild at the end are the environment and condition.3 Actually, Darwin’s theory of Struggle for Existence and Natural Selection were completely expressed in Buck’s life. His strong, cunning and treacherous nature was gradually showed in order to survive.Actually, Buck was also the product of natural principles. He lived and behaved with natural disciplines. Since he wanted to survive in the sledding team, he had to learn something cunning and treacherous to remain hisposition. In the process of being sold to be a sledding dog, Buck wanted to give these hated people a lesson to show his anger. Unfortunately, he got a lesson himself. He was beaten by a strong club seriously. The more excitedly he revolted, the heavily the club beat. This was a turning point of Buck’s awareness. He realized that this was a brutal world; a man with a club was a lawgiver, and a master to be obeyed. 4 So he learned to be a good dog to satisfy his master.The fate of Curly, one of Buck’s partners, who made advances to a husky dog in her friendly way but finally be tumbled and nibbled by a group of dogs let Buck knew that this was a world that the strong would exist but the weak be eliminated. The only way to survive in this world was to be strong and never be beaten down instead of enduring only.Therefore he tried his best to learn the rules to survive. He learned how to sleep comfortable in snowfield; how to fight and steal things without being caught. He even lost his fastidiousness about food to make himself stronger. Learning how to steal things symbolized the degeneration and collapse of Buck’s morality cultivated in human civilization society; for he knew that the morality in this serious circumstance was an obstacle, being stronger and cunning were the most important thing. He got this lesson by an experience that his food was stolen. In order to live in this sledding team, he must win Spitz to be the leader, or he would always be oppressed by Spitz. He waited his time with patience and avoided conflicting with Spitz directly. But he would think of many ways against Spitz. When the time was proper, he tried his best to kill Spitz and to be the leader dog. All of these m ade contributions to the revival of Buck’s primitive nature.B. The Behaviors of People in the Process of Gold RushAfter the death of John Thornton, Buck had no affection for human society and chose to return to the wild. The exterior reason was the attitude of human towards him. In the process of gold rush, people’s behaviors were so selfish, cold and cruel that Buck thought it’s not meaningful to remain there anymore. To some extent, people’s behaviors at that time were a direct reason causing the return of Buck.1. The Cruelty and Coldness of PeopleBy the end of 19th century, Capitalism in America had developed rapidly. Capital was controlled by some capitalists, which then caused monopoly capital. The society was divided into several classes and the contradiction was very serious among these classes. The labors struggled at the range of death. One of the serious effects of classes division was the collapse in moral. In such a society that money and position ranked the highest, people’s pursuit of both o f them was terrifying. They could do whatever evil thing to achieve their goals in order to survive which was no difference from that in primitive society. When the gold rush prevailed, many people joined this wealthy group. In order to get utmost benefits, people would not care about others. The human became more and more selfish and colder.2. Buck’s Sufferings in Human SocietyThe cruelty and coldness of human to the most extent led Buck’s decision between human society and the wild. First was the treac hery of the Judge’s gardener who sold Buck. He sold Buck just because he indulged in gambling and needed money. Then came the stout man with a red sweater. He was colder and more brutal. He was good at training dogs and didn’t fear any of them. He beat Buck nearly to death every time Buck revolted and taught Buck a lesson that he must obey the man with a club. Buck did learn a lesson of the coldness of human from his treatment. Last were the three green-hand masters who didn’t know how to manage a sledding team. They did treat these sledding dogs well at the beginning. But when the dog food was in shortage and the plan couldn’t go on as planned. They lost patience and always quarreled with each other. Then they reduced the food for dogs but required to run the same miles which always made these sledding dogs extremely tired not only because of little food but little rest. The dogs were tired to death one by one. They didn’t care about but bought other dogs. Under the management of these people, Buck also lost his earlier enthusiasm. He suffered the sorrow, too. All of his stiffness and gloss had gone out of his beautiful furry coat. The hair hung down, limp and draggled, or matted with dried blood where Hal’s club had bruised him. His muscles had wasted away to knotty strings, and the fresh pads had disappeared, so that each rib and every bone in his frame were outlined cleanly through the loose hide that was wrinkled in folds of emptiness. It was heartbreaking.5 When Buck fell down because of tire and couldn’t climb up, his master, Hal, exchanged his whip for a club to beat Buck brutally. Buck was full of despair. He even didn’t do any struggle but waited to die. At last he was saved by John Thornton, a very kind man. But the fate of other dogs was not as lucky as that of Buck. Hal gave up getting Buck back but forced other dogs to go on the miles. All of them fell into the ice hole and disappeared when the ice broken.Buck had no love for human during the life in human society except for John Thornton, who saved Buck from death and treated Buck not as domestic animal but his own child. Buck loved him very much and could do everything for him. After the death of John Thornton, Buck had no affection for human any more for he had experienced the cruelty and coldness in this society. He responded the call and returned to the wild.C. The Call of the WildThe call of the wild mainly refers to the call from the forest which was an exterior influence on Buck. It influenced Buck indirectly. During Buck’s life in the sledding team, he always heard the call. The call reminded Buck of some of his instincts which were inherited from his ancestors. Meanwhile, because of this call, Buck found the direction of his end-result after leaving the human society.The call from the wol ves in the forest was an outside reason of Buck’sreturn. The call was distinct and definite as never before—a long—drawn howl, like, yet unlike, any noise made by husky, deep in the forest the call was sounding and as often as he heard this call, mysteriously thrilling and luring.6 Every time he chased the call to the unbroken earth, the love for John Thornton would drive him back. But he still yearned for the call. The call had greatly influenced Buck day and night. Once a time, Buck met one wolf and made friends with it. Buck’s old memories were appeared in his mind. He followed the wolf who wanted to lead Buck to a place where they could run freely in the open yard with unpacked earth underfoot and wide sky overhead. Buck was wildly glad. But it was just the love of John Thornton made him turned back. Finally, John Thornton was dead. The last tie with human society was broken. Buck heard the yelps again, as the yelps grew closer and louder, Buck knew them as things heard in that other world which persisted in his memory. It sounded more luring and more compelling than ever before.7 At this time, Buck decided to obey the call.D. Drama Effects—Jack London’s Pursuit of Freedom and DreamJack London came from the lower class of Capitalist Society. He pitched his desire and wishes in the characters in his literature works, which was always a method used by most writers to express feelings. In this novel, Jack London described the society in dog’s eye vividly in personification. Buck’s desire and return to free dom were actually the expression of Jack London’s pursuit of freedom and dream. The world of these dogs is the world of Capitalist Society in which Jack London lived. The fight and struggle of dogs reflected the lives of poor people in this society. Jack London used Buck’s experiences and desire to show his own wishes.At the same time, Jack London engraved Buck as a dog full of faithfulness, enthusiasm and emotion. This can be seen from his life in Judge’s place and his faith to John Thornton. On the contrary, Jack London described the people in this society as cruel, cold and selfish. This formed a comparison between human and dogs which can give the reader a sense that even the dog was much friendlier than human beings. Meanwhile, it can give the Capitalist Society a warning that a deep reflection was needed.Ⅳ. ConclusionThe Call of the Wild described a dog’s survival and struggle in brutal circumstance in appearance. Actually it showed the hardness of people’s struggle to survive in a seriously competitive society. As Mao Xinde, a Chinese scholar, said in his work, the Outline of American Novels, Jack London used the writing style of satire and innuendo to expose the reality of American society at author’s time by stating the loss of morality and the se rious struggle among dogs. 8 Jack London didn’t talk about the story of a dog lived in human society and described his experiences purely, but reflected the society in an indirect way. Through analyzing the subjective and objective reasons of Buck’s return to the wild, we can easily understand the author’s purpose that is, stating the miserable life of the labors withthe experiences of dogs to reveal the darkness of the society and showing his good wishes for freedom.Notes1 方宗熙，《懂一点达尔文进化论》，北京：北京青年出版社，1977年，第53页。