An Ecocritical Interpretation of The Call of the Wild1.0IntroductionJack London is one of the most important writers in America. He was born on January 12, 1876 in California. He had not become the highest-paid, most widely-read, and best-known writer in America until he was 37 years old. As a young man, London always looked forward to travel to the "raw edges" of the world, and many stories in his writing derive from his own experience. During those years, his family was very poor, and London had to leave school to make money. He worked hard in many different jobs, from a pirate in San Francisco Bay, to a tramp across America. Finally, tired of adventure and determined to improve himself, London returned to Oakland, and later, he graduated from high school in 1895. At that time, London even got permission to the University of California at Berkeley, but he did not stay long. As the Klondike Gold Rush in Canada's Yukon Territory had begun, London left his college to find gold in the snowy North in 1897.The experience in the Klondike served as an important turning point in Jack London's career. Instead of being rich, London did gather sufficient material for a series of stories for his writing. He went back and began to write. During these years in the Klondike and the period of the Alaskan Gold Rush, Jack London finished his probably most significant body of work which set in the Far North. These short stories and novels first were published in magazines, and then collected and published in his first book, The Son of the Wolf (1900). This gave him a great encouragement to pursue his literary career. London's best works also include The Call of the Wild (1903), The Seawolf (1904), White Fang (1906), The Iron Heel(1908), and Martin Eden(1909). His short stories are collected in such books as Children of the Frost (1902), When God Laughs (1911) and South Sea Tales (1911).His novel The Call of the Wild,an experimental novel, published in 1903, is considered as one of London's the most-read books and establishes his status in western literature. Since the protagonist is a dog, sometimes it is regarded as an animal fable, suitable for children. However, the dark tone and the numerous scenes of violence andcruelty in the novel show the essence of human nature, thus someone called it "Darwin type epic". The novel criticized anthropocentrism by describing the relationship between man and animal, human's extended lust to gold and their maltreatment of animals. Since published more than one hundred years ago, The Call of the Wild has received great attention both from domestic and foreign literature researchers. The chief topic of the novel is usually the philosophy of the "survival of the fittest". A close reading of the novel reveals the fact it is full of ecological color. In this work, London expressed his disgust of human's maltreatment of animals for their own sake; he also criticized the foolish behavior by disobeying the nature law; besides, he gave a high praise to the harmonious relationship between dog and animal. Since few critics concerning London's ecological consciousness in this famous novel, it is worth reinterpreting and redefining The Call of the Wild from the perspective of ecocriticism.2.0Jack London and EcocriticismAs an important writer of American literature in the early 20th century, Jack London is regarded as a naturalist. Nature is one of the main themes in his works. And his works are full of ecological consciousness by caring about human-nature relationship, human's anthropocentrism and their action of maltreating animals, etc.2.1 A Brief Overview of EcocriticismAs a new kind of literature criticism, many people may not be very familiar with or even know it,it is of great necessity to give a brief overview of ecocriticism.2.1.1 Definition of EcocriticismIn the twentieth century, with the development of the technological revolution, human world changed a lot. On the one hand, it benefited mankind with unparalleled wealth; on the other hand, it also destroyed the ecological balance tremendously and unfortunately. Many environmental disasters arouse the public awareness, making more and more people rethink their relationship between man and nature. Therefore, during the late 1960s, a new era of global ecology movement has emerged. And it is reflected as ecocriticism in literary study.The prefix, "eco-”, in "ecocriticism" comes from the Greek "oikos", and describes the meaning of living place of human being. Criticism means giving the judgment about the good and bad qualities of something or somebody. And combined by these two words, ecocriticism refers to the judgment of human's living place. Here, “ecocriticism”, as a new way of literature study method, means “the analysis and judgment of the merits and faults of a literary work” (Li Zhenbang, 2005: 401).Ecocriticism appears with various kinds of names, commonly as ecological criticism, ecopoetics, environmental literary criticism, ecological literary criticism, green cultural studied, environmental literature etc. But no matter what title it is, the research object and purpose of ecocriticism are consistent, namely, the interpretation of refection of nature in literature works, and the exploration of relationship between natural environment and human culture. According to Cheryll Glotfelty, “ecocriticism refers to the study of relationship between literature and nature”(Cheryll, 1996: 1). This definition seems simple, but in fact it contains rich contents. Firstly, ecocriticism does not follow the “anthropocentric”tradition in the study of literary theory, but advocates “ecocentrism”, extending the definition of the “world”which limited in “the human‟s society”into referring to “the whole ecological system” in the discussion of “the relationship between writer, text and the world”(Li Shujie, 2004: 90). Secondly, from the perspective of ecocriticism, the problem of human society should not be the only issue that literary writing and comment confront.Glotfelty also criticizes that although modern literary criticism developed greatly, it has obviously ignored the main concern of modern human civilization, namely the global environmental crisis. Reading the newspaper, you can get all kinds of information about environmental pollution. In the field of literary criticism, you see most of the race, class, and gender. It seems like only these are the most important issues of the 20th century, but you cannot imagine how serious test the life system of earth is suffering from. Ecocriticism is an effort made by a group of scholars with strong sense and social responsibility in order to change this kind of situation.2.1.2 The Development of EcocriticismAs a new trend of criticism, ecocriticism, firstly, appeared in America, and was spreadover the world rapidly. This concept can be traced back to 1970s. In 1974, Joseph W. Meeker put forward the term of “literary ecology” in his essay The Comedy of Survival: Studies in Literary Ecology. He claimed that criticism should discuss the relationship between human and other species. He also tried to interpret the ancient drama, Dante, Shakespeare and contemporary literature from the perspective of ecological criticism.In 1978, the term “ecocriticim”was produced by William Rucckert in his work Literature and Ecology: An Experiment in Ecocriticism. Rucckert also advocated the combination of ecology and literature in literary criticism. His opinion did not get attention until 1989, the year in which the meeting of Western Literature Association was held.In Britain, ecocriticism began in 1990s, and its founder is Jonathan Bate, a professor of the University of Liverpool. In 1991, Bate put out his Romantic Ecology, in which he interpreted romantic literature from the perspective of ecology. The term of ecocriticism also appeared in this book, but Bate named it as literary ecocriticism. Some scholars believe that the publication of this work marks the beginning of ecocriticism in Britain.In the new century, ecocriticism is achieving great popularity. Ecocriticism spread through the world rapidly, not only in America and Britain, but also in the other western countries. For example, Denmark eco-critic Svend Erik Larsen, Germany scholar Jan Hollm, Fremch professor Alain Suberchicot and Walter Rojas Perez from Latin America. All of them make great contributions to the development of ecocriticism.Besides western countries, China also witnessed the development of eccriticism. In 1994, Jonathan Bate‟s Romantic Ecology appeared on Foreign Literature Review. 2002 is a crucial year for ecocriticism in China. This year, Development and Origin of Ecocriticism, an introductive essay written by Wang Nuo, was published in Literature and Art Studies. In this book, Wang informed Chinese readers of the development and works of eocriticism in the west. In 2006, Professor Hu Zhihong described the basic theory of ecocriticism and its influence in his A Study of Western Ecocriticism. Besides these important works, there are more and more communication between scholars in this field both of western countries and China.After the brief overview of ecocriticism, we know that the goal of ecocriticism is not only the study of the relationship between human and nature, but also spreads ecologicalthoughts through the world. That is to say, the purpose of ecocriticism is on the one hand to explore the ecological ideas in literature and on the other hand to help people realize the ecological problems in the real world and arouse public‟s attention of ecological protection.2.2 Formation of Jack London’s Ecological IdeasJack London is one of the representative writers in America. As a naturalist, nature is the main theme of his works. His experience is the great source of his stories. Many scholars point out both the historical context and his personal life experience contributes to the formation of London‟s ecological ideas.2.2.1 Historical ContextSince nineteenth century, scientific technology and industrialism have developed rapidly and unprecedentedly. Industrialism produced financial giants, but at the same time created other problems, especially ecological crisis. That is to say, natural resources did not get correct and reasonable use during the process of the Industrial Revolution. In order to pursue the fortune, people violate natural rule and destroy natural beauty and ecological balance, bringing devastating disaster to nature and themselves.Jack London(1876-1916), one of the most famous writer in America, was born in 1876, after the end of Civil War, and died in 1916, before the beginning of the First World War. London‟s whole life witnessed the great changes in American society, for example, the rapid development of capitalist economy, Gold Rush and the economic crisis in 1873. During this period, Americans did not depend on the wilderness closely, but had a new contact with urbanized civilization.The great development of industrialization did not make everybody realize their dreams, and the fact is that most of the wealth was under the control of the few. The process of the society is at the cost of the great environmental pollution. People began to question modern society. Jack London was one of them. He wrote many works with the theme of nature, showing his great anxiety of industrial civilization. The Call of the Wild is one of the most representative works to reflect his concern about the relationship between human beings and nature.2.2.2 Life ExperienceJack London, born in San Francisco, California, came from the bottom of the society. When he was a child, his family was very poor, and London had to leave school to make money. He worked hard in many different jobs, from a pirate in San Francisco Bay, to a tramp across America. Finally, tired of adventure and determined to improve himself, London returned to Oakland, and later, he graduated from high school in 1895. At that time, London even got permission to the University of California at Berkeley, but he did not stay long. As the Klondike Gold Rush in Canada's Yukon Territory had begun, London left his college to find gold in the snowy North in 1897.Although suffering from his early unfortunate life experience, London made his way up to the summit of the social hierarchy through hard work and sheer will power. “H e read Marx, Charles Darwin, and Nietzsche, among others, and was self-educated in natural law and determinism. He wrote in quick succession and sold well” (Chang Yaoxin, 2008: 152).The experience in the Klondike served as an important turning point in Jack London's career. Instead of being rich, London did gather sufficient material for a series of stories for his writing. During these years in the Klondike and the period of the Alaskan Gold Rush, Jack London finished his probably most significant body of works which set in the Far North. In his stories, London exposed people‟s life at that time. They desired for free life and gold. They destroyed the mature for hunting wealth. All of these were written on the basis of his experience, which has great ecological values nowadays, especially his masterpiece The Call of the Wild.In a word, the formation of Jack London‟s ecological consciousness is the result of both historical context and life experience. After the above analysis, we can see the development of civilization should keep pace with the improvement of human‟s attitude to nature. Ecoceiticism emerges at the right time to cater this serious situation, waking up people‟s awareness to find a correct way to balance the development of human society and the nature.3.0 The Analysis of Ecological Ideas in The Call of the WildThe Call of the wild, the most representative work of Jack London, can fully reflect his ecological consciousness. It tells a story that a dog, Buck, from the civilization of human society to wolves, and finally returned to the primitive nature. By analyzing the novel, it is obvious to find out that the ecological ideas is mainly reflected in the criticism of anthropocentrism and the strong love for animals. Referring to the criticism of anthropocentrism, it mainly concerns human‟s maltreatment of animals and their extended lust. The following section is gonging to deal with them step by step.3.1 Criticism of AnthropocentrismAnthropocentrism is the view that human is the center of reality. In the light of anthropocentrism, human beings regard themselves as the only existence, and they dominate other things on earth. Everything on earth, both the living and no-living, are created for the dominator—human beings. In Jack London‟s The Call of the Wild, his criticism of anthropocentrism is revealed in two aspects. The first one is human‟s maltreatment of animals. The second one is human‟s extended lust for gold.3.1.1 Human’s Maltreatment of AnimalsEnvironment ethic is a field made up of two movements, i.e. the animal rights and ecological thoughts. The similarities of these two movements are that both of them fight against anthropocentrism and both of them respect nature and life. Animals, as part of nature, should be equal to other species on earth, including human being. However, the serious fact is that they are always treated unfairly and miserably, which arouses ecocentrists‟great concerns. In the novel The Call of the Wild,Jack London criticizes human‟s maltreatment of the dog Buck and the other sled-dogs.In the first period of the novel, Buck was a privileged pet dog, living in “the whole realm”(London, 2004: 3). After sold by several dog dealers and kidnapping, he is subject to cruelty and neglect. When Manuel sells Buck to a man who twists the rope attached to his collar roughly, Buck‟s misery begins.Buck struggled in a fury, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and his great chest pant in. But his strength ebbed, his eyes glazed, and he knew nothing when thetrain was flagged and the two men threw him into the baggage car. (London, 2004:5)In the morning, four men entered and picked up the crate where Buck stays, Buck “stormed and raged at them through the bars. They only laughed and poked sticks at him, which he promptly assailed with his teeth till he realized that that was what they wanted”(London, 2004: 6).As it was with Buck, so was it with his mates:They were perambulating skeletons. […] In their very great misery they hadbecome insensible to the bite of the lash or the bruise of the club. […] They weresimple so many bags of bones in which sparks of life fluttered faintly. When ahalt was made, they dropped down in the traces like dead dogs, and the sparkdimmed and aled and seemed to go out. (London, 2004: 42)The fourth master of Buck is Hal Charles and Mercedes, who are totally inexperienced and foolish. Under the Hal Charles and Mercedes, dogs have to pull the loads which are far beyond their abilities. Most of the dogs die from overwork, starvation, and beatings.Therefore, from the above citations, we can see what the relentless trio offers to the dogs are hunger, weariness and whippings. Under theses cruel and inconsiderable masters, Buck and his mates live in a disastrous life without love and attention. By describing Buck‟s misery, Jack London exposed the dark side of human-animal relationship, and criticizes human‟s maltreatment of animals.3.1.2 Human’s Extended LustIn the novel The Call of the Wild, the criticism of human‟s extended lust and desire is mainly reflected in the naked rapaciousness of nature and the slaughter among human beings in the pursuit of wealth.Instead of writing about the Gold Rush and human‟s desire to gold, Jack London set it as the novel‟s background. It was described at the beginning of the first chapter, “Becausemen, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland”(London, 2004: 1). In order to satisfy their lust to wealth, numerous of gold-diggers came to this deserted place to find their gold dream. Because of the limited natural resources, they had fierce competitions, not only destroying the local ecological balance but also killing each other. Thornton, Buck‟s last master, was killed by Indians. “Thornton‟s desperate struggle was fresh-written on the earth”(London, 2004: 64). However, for the rich they get, their extended lust also hurt themselves. They were not pure and kind any longer. As Buck‟s only female master, Mercedes, firstly, was sympathetic to Buck when she saw Buck was whipped by Carl:But Mercedes interfered, crying, …oh, Hal, you mustn‟t, as she caught hold of the whip and wrenched it from him. To poor dears, now you must promise you won‟t be harsh with them for the rest of the trip, or I won‟t go a step.‟. (London, 2004:36)However, in the course of their trip to the Northland, Mercedes changed her attitude to these dogs. “She no longer considered the dogs, and because she was sore and tired, she persisted in riding on the sled” (London, 2004: 41). That is to say, the greedy desire to gold had already changed her value and the material belief had controlled her.From the above analysis, it is clear that to some extent, the experience of the Klondike Gold Rush is not only about gold or human‟s desire to gold, it is also about man‟s exploitation and expansion of nature. Jack London disposed the process of human‟s changes in the way of digging gold.3.2 Strong Love for AnimalsIn The Call of the Wild, Jack London does not regard the relationship between man and animals as a kind of subordination, but describe it from the point of emotional connection and moral principles. London breaks the traditional and opposite pattern of human and animals. His description of the relationship between man and nature containsthe ecological thought that loving animals means loving human themselves.In the novel, Buck also has emotion, and he also can understand the human‟s emotions. Sometimes he cares about the man much more than themselves. If the relationship between Judge Miller and Buck is “a stately and dignified friendship”, “but love that was feverish and burning, that was adoration, that was madness, it had taken John Thornton to arouse” (London, 2004: 60). Thornton saves Buck, and he looks after it as his child. The most important thing is that he does this is out of his conscience.He never forgot a kindly greeting or a cheering word, and to sit down for a longtalk with them, was as much his delight as theirs. He had a way of taking Buck‟s head roughly between his hands, and testing his own head upon Buck‟s of shaking him back and forth. ( London, 2004: 61)Thornton treats the animals equally and make them have the ability of sensing misery and enjoying happiness. He does not only love animals, but also give them respects and rights. In The Call of the Wild, Jack London exposes this special affection for dogs, aiming to reflect the ecological trend of protecting animals and appreciating life.4.0 Ecological Concerns in The Call of the WildWith the development of society, human beings not only enjoy great achievements and improvement, but also are troubled with all kinds of crisis, including ecological catastrophe. The Call of the Wild discloses the issues of threat on nature by human beings. Confronted with these destructive situations, Jack London expressed his ecological concerns in the novel. He suggests that human should keep a harmonious relationship between man and nature by obeying natural law, protecting wildness. At the same time, London calls human‟s return to nature in order to solve the ecological problems.4.1 Harmonious Relationship Between Man and NatureWhat ecological harmony stressed is the integrity of the whole eco-system. In the novel, nature is represented by dogs. The harmonious relationship between man and natureis mainly reflected in the friendship between Buck and John Thornton.John Thornton, the fifth master, is Buck‟s savior. In Buck‟s view, Thornton is the “ideal master” to whom he is loyal and has great love. He saves Buck from the whip of Hal, and cuts him free from his traces which symbolize the freedom of Buck. Thornton treats the dogs as if they were his own children, sitting down for a long talk with them, calling them love names and giving them respects. Meanwhile, Buck also has his own way to express his love for Thornton.Buck had a trick of love expression that was akin to hurt. He could often seizeThornton‟s hand in his mouth and close so fiercely that the flesh bore the impressof his teeth for some time afterward. And was Buck understood the oaths to belove words, so the man understood this feigned bite foe a caress. (London, 2004:62)Besides the above “love expression”, Buck also shows his love for Thornton in other ways. Buck saves Thornton‟s life twice: once when Thornton gets knocked in a barroom brawl and anther one when Thornton falls into a rapid. Besides, Buck also wins great honor for his master: he wins 1600 dollars on a bet for Thornton by pulling “twenty fifty—pound sacks of flour”(London, 2004: 70). Here, Jack London emphasizes a kind of mutual love between men and animals—perhaps because the love he gets from his master makes Buck wants to do anything for Thornton.Living a happy life with Thornton, Buck still feels that there is a strong call drawing him back to nature—a call “mysteriously thrilling and luring”(London, 2004: 62). But the love for John Thornton draws him back and keeps him here. In the novel, London makes it clear that it is the only love for Thornton that keeps Buck from back to nature, not for the mankind in general. It is described as: “Thornton alone held him. The rest of mankind was as nothing” (London, 2004: 62).All these descriptions fully manifest in ideal pattern of human—nature relationship in Jack London‟s mind: harmonious, friendly and full of love. However, Buck‟s love is destroyed by the cruel fact—Thornton was slaughtered. To revenge for his ideal master,Buck kills the Indians. By narrating this section, London gives the man a warning: human beings is part of nature, they should obey the natural law, otherwise, they will pay for their action by nature.4.2 Return to NatureReturning to nature is the central theme in The Call of the Wild. Describing Buck‟s adventure in Klondike, Jack London criticizes the maltreatment of animals and human‟s extended lust. At the same time, the novel also appeals the harmony between man and nature. In London‟s opinion, returning to nature is not to escape from the reality, but to keep away from the dark-side of industrialism and the commercial spirit; to return to nature means to live a simple and healthy state of life.In the novel, Jack London shows this purpose from the very beginning of the novel:Old longings nomadic leap,Chafing at custom‟s chain;Again from its brumal sleepwakens the ferine strain. (London, 2004: 1)This citation is put in the start of the novel. After the whole reading, we can see Jack London indicates Buck‟s final destiny of returning to nature at the very beginning of the story. As the novel progresses, Buck is always attracted by a strong call of going into wildness. But the true love between him and John Thornton keeps Buck here. However, all these are destroyeded by the terrible fact—Thornton is killed.At that time, Buck has no master. That means Buck, for the first time, is the master of his own fate. Now he could live a free and happy life. He likes to run with other animals in the wildness: “Buck was widely glad. He knew he was at last answering the call, running by the side of his wood brother toward the place from where the call, running by the side of his wood brother towered the place from where the call surely came”(London, 2004: 73).At the end of the story, Buck is running freely, showing a balance between nature andhim. “He may be seen running at the head of the pack through the pale moonlight or glimmering borealis, leaping gigantic above his fellow…which is the song of the pack ”(London, 2004: 82). This is a song of Buck, answering the call of the wild. This is also a song of Jack London, written for the nature. This song makes people recall the peace life with nature in the past.Above the analysis, Jack London leads human into a deep thinking; Buck‟s final destiny has two implements: if we see Buck is a part of the nature, the ending indicates that human should respect nature, otherwise, human will lose nature; if Buck is a part of human‟s world, the ending tells that man is a part of nature, returning to nature is the ideal destination, namely, pursing the harmony between man and nature.5.0 ConclusionJack London is seen as a representative and prolific writer in America. He is one of the American naturalists. Nature is the main theme of his works. His works present sufficient materials about passion for nature and the disappointment to modern society from the perspective of ecology. Seeing human‟s destroying of nature, London not only analyses social phenomenon of industrialism but also explores the outlets of them. In his works, London makes animals her protagonists and narrators in order to convey the real feelings and consciousness which shake the greedy thoughts in human‟s world. In The Call of the Wild, Jack London exposes the anthropocentrism of humans—the maltreatment of animals, the extended lust to gold. With Buck‟s change from dog to wolf, London criticizes the dark-side of human-animal relationship. He points out that it is human‟s wrong ecological consciousness that brings Buck lots of sufferings. At the end of the story, Buck‟s return to nature supplies an ideal approach to solve the pro blem. Buck‟s choice is also Jack London‟s choice. London appeals a harmonious relationship the man and nature and return to a simple and sustainable life. The Call of the Wild is a highly ecological consciousness work.。
