A Naturalistic Reading on The Call of the Wild_英语论文

摘要

十九世纪下半叶，自然主义作为一种文学创作方法在法国兴起，并以法国作家左拉为代表，后风行于美法文坛。作为美国自然主义文学的代表作家之一，杰克伦敦在他的经典小说《野性的呼唤》中充分表现了自然主义文学的创作特点；“物竞天择，适者生存”的理论通过主人公巴克的经历得到完美诠释。本文以自然主义文学理论为基础，通过对主人公巴克从宠物狗变成雪橇犬，并最终回归荒野的经历和其他主要人物的分析解读该作品中的自然主义色彩。本文首先介绍了作品创作背景和主要内容；其次从环境和遗传两个因素分析巴克自身表现出来的自然主义；第三部分从其他主要人物的角度分析自然主义的具体体现；最后做出总结。野性的呼唤不仅是杰克伦敦对虚伪无情的文明社会的批判，同时是对于竞争残酷的社会环境的生存启示。

关键词：巴克 自然主义 物竞天择 适者生存

Abstract

Naturalism was coined by Zola and prevailed in France as a new literature genre in the late19th century. Since then it has been widely spread in America. Jack London, one of the leading writers of American Naturalism literature, sufficiently conveyed the idea of naturalism in his masterpiece – The Call of The Wild. Darwin’s theory of natural selection and Spenser’s social Darwinism were perfectly demonstrated in the personified character Buck and his whole life. This paper mainly analyzes the naturalistic features of Buck through the changes of his life and the other human characters. Firstly, I give a brief introduction to the work, and then illustrate how naturalism was displayed in Buck from the aspects of environmental determinism and hereditary determinism, the third section explored naturalism in the other human characters. The conclusion is drawn in the last section. This work is not only the criticism of Jack London on the hypocritical and ruthless civilization, but also the enlightenment for the dog-eat-dog society.

Key Words: Buck; Naturalism; Natural Selection; Survival of the Fittest

Contents

1  Introduction 1

1.1 Background 1

1.2 Theoretical basis 2

1.3 Literature Review.3

2  The Analysis of Naturalism on Buck from The View of Environmental Determinism 6

2.1 The Law of the Jungle and The Germination of Primitive Savagary 6

2.2The Decaying Morality and The Growing of Primitive Savagery 7

2.3 The Stimulation of the Barbarity and The Awakening Bestiality 7

2.4 The Burst of Wild and The Peak of Primitiveness 8

3  The Analysis of Naturalism on Buck from the View of Hereditary Determinism 10

3.1Buck – The Dog with Characteristic of Wolf 10

3.2 The Heredity of Buck from Nature 10

3.3The Effect of the Call of the Wildness 11

4  The Analysis of Naturalism on the Human Characters in The Call of the Wild 13

4.1Survival and Indifference 13

4.2 Lust and Ignorance 13

4.3 Love and Harmony 14

5  Conclusion 16

Bibliography 17

Acknowledgments 18