The Open Boat” and “To Build a Fire
The Open Boat” and “To Build a Fire
Introduction
Naturalism in the American literature is a literacy movement that advocated for the involvement of environment, and social matters in modeling the human culture. In the two literary sources ‘To Build a fire’ and Crane’s ‘The Open Boat’, have similar characteristics showing naturalism. In story “The Open Boat” Crane the four characteristics of naturalism to resurrect his story. Naturalism presents the humanistic control of their actions and fate as being reduced to a minimum and taken over by the natural world, the same for their humanity. Crane brings out nature as being uncaring, when saying that it is relentless and unforgiving sea; “A singular disadvantage of the sea lies in the fact that after successfully surmounting one wave you discover that there is another behind it just as important and just as nervously anxious to do something effective in the way of swamping boats” considering the occupants of the boats are weak almost dying, the sea does not give up but continues to wave in.
Crane also brings out the world as losing its order; “If I am going to be drowned……, why, in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea, was I allowed coming thus far and contemplating sand and trees? Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away.….. It is preposterous.” The occupants of the boat have given their all till they are dead tired only to be unable to reach the land (Katz, Joseph). This is seen as being unfair. If for any case there was order they would have made it to the land considering their efforts.
In Crane’s story, he stated that man is in search of order and signs in the natural environment when he states that a bird is kept distant from wavering of the captain’s head, “After it had been discouraged from the pursuit the captain ….. the bird struck their minds at this time as being somehow gruesome and ominous.” The bird flying around the captain’s head was attributed to being a negative sign of uneasiness.
On the other hand, in Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” he encompassed the notion of naturalism considering that it showed the happenings in the daily life (Crane, Stephen). He states that if a person I not keen, nature will defeat the person. The person introduced was characterized as being perilous. The temperature was 75 degrees below zero, adding to that he was less physically and mentally ready for life. According to London the cold “did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature, and upon man’s frailty in general, able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold.”(p.1745)” the man was brought out as being defeated by life itself (London, Jack). If he had company for the journey he would still be alive, however his being stubborn would not let him do so. This brought out the thought of how a little mistake can bring a person down.
Just as in Crane’s idea of the world losing its order, London in his story brings out the world as being unconcerned and ferocious. He used Yuko to show the bareness of the world. The thought of the waste land being occupied by ice and snow brings out the dangerous nature of the world. Another instance is the dog attributing the man as being a fire maker hence of use to drive away the cold “The dog had learned fire, and it wanted fire, or else a burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air.”(1746). If no assistance was coming from the man the dog would have left him earlier on.
Naturalism comes into play when the man had no option for survival but to kill the dog “The sight of the dog put a wild idea into his head. He remembered the tale of a man, caught in a blizzard, who killed a steer and crawled inside the carcass, and so was saved.”(1752)”. But after seeing the dog would not accept to his coming near it, the man came up with another plan which did not work. He later died after it never worked.
Conclusion
Naturalism is the most convincing form of literary movement. It brings out life better through the fact that the environment is less caring. It will hence advance its destruction and harm with no consideration for the circumstances.
Works Cited
Crane, Stephen. “The Open Boat.” The Harper American Literature. Ed. Donald McQuade et al. 2nd ed. 2 Vols, New York: Longman, 1993.
Katz, Joseph, ed. The Portable Stephen Crane. New York: Penguin Books, 1969
London, Jack. “To Build a Fire.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama. 7th edition. Ed. X. J, Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New York, NY: Longman, 1999.
