Abstract:Naturalism was first formulated by French writer Emile Zola who set up the basic principles of it and was later introduced to America by Frank Norris. Later, Jack London mixed those principles with American realism in his novel The Call of the Wild, depicting a group of dogs who lived under the laws of nature. In this novel, the author created a major image-Buck, from whose experience we can see the law of club and the law of fang which represents the law of the nature. The hero, Buck, is actually the symbol of man. His life experience shows that man’s life is wholly determined by the environment and heredity inside himself. The environment is so bad that people are determined by some forces beyond their control, which in the book leads to the death of many people and dogs, including John Thornton. The death of Buck’s beloved is a symbol of his loss of love. It has cut off the last tie between Buck and the civilized world. Thus，later, Buck responses to the call of the wild, which is in fact the instinct and heredity inside himself. For naturalists, the world is so cruel that everyone has to be the strongest to survive. They are thrown upon themselves to keep alive as best as they can. Sometimes they may lose reason or sometimes they may harm others. All in all, they should not be criticized. As for this, the author will start her paper with the definition of Naturalism, then analyze how environment and heredity contribute to the description of the character with the law of nature, that is “the law of jungle” and “the survival of the fittest”, and then write about the symbolic meaning of environment and the character. What’s more, the author will also draw some conclusions on the development of human society.
Key words: Naturalism, the Law of Nature, the fittest survive
Content
摘要：
Abstract:
Introduction-2
1.-A Brief Introduction of Naturalism-3
1.1 A Brief Introduction of Naturalism-3
1.2 A Brief Analysis of the Appliance of Naturalism-5
2. The Portrayal of the Character-6
2.1 The Influence of the Environment-6
2.1.1 Buck’s Adaptation to the Environment-6
2.1.2 Buck’s Amorality-7
2.1.3 Buck’s Desire for Leadership-8
2.2 The Biological-determinism-9
2.2.1 The Wakening of Buck’s Heredity-9
2.2.2 The Completely Wakening of Buck’s Instincts-11
2.3 Buck’s Response to the Call-12
3.-The Symbolic Meaning of Naturalism-14
3.1 The Symbolic Meaning of the Wild Nature-14
3.2 The Symbolic Meaning of the Character-15
Conclusion-17
Bibliography-18
Acknowledgements-19
