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Darwinism Reflected in the Call of the Wild
1 Introduction
1.1 The life of the writer
Jack London (1876-1916) is an American realistic writer. He wrote many masterpieces in his whole life, such as The Call of the Wild and The White Fang and so on. His writings are not only read extensively by native America, but also are welcomed by people from all over the world. His writings often present us a strange and unusually extensive world, describing cruel fighting between human being and nature as well as complicated social relations between human and human. And his writings reflect his great approval of …the survival of the fittest‟ of Darwin and Social Darwinism of Spenser. London thought that only those who could adapt to society and those were strong enough could survive at last. London‟s experiences influenced his writing of The Call of the Wild. London‟s family was very poor in his early years, so little London had to shoulder a very heavy burden of supporting his family. In order to survive in the hostile environment, people must compete with others in every respect, such as social status, reputation, money, food, etc. In 1897, which was the beginning of what Mark Twain called “The Gilded Age”, an age of excess and extremes, of decline and progress, of poverty and dazzling wealth, of gloom and buoyant hope? (Liu, 36) At that time, London joined a group of people who were crazy for gold. But he failed in discovering gold. However, during this period, he had finished reading Charles Darwin‟s the Origin of Species, and greatly appreciated the principle of the survival of the fittest. Moreover, Herbert Spencer‟s social Darwinism had a great influence on him. London holds that unlike the natural forces, the social forces were more horrible and more terrible to be conquered. They were with the unbearable poverty and the great despair after the disillusion of hope. If one did not want to be defeated, he should behave like a Darwinist who would dare to leave the slum, with two fists clenched, to challenge to the whole society and break its traditional ideas, which were based on the custom of putting the interests of the majority of people in the first place. The masterpiece …The Call of the Wild‟ also reflects the society in his times and his own struggle to get upper class and
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1.2 The brief summary of the Call of the Wild
The Call of the Wild tells a story of a gigantic dog, called Buck, who formerly lived at Judge Miller‟s big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. He led a comfortable life and had nothing to worry about such as bad weather or food shortage. However, his peaceful and easeful life was over and everything changed after he was kidnapped and sold to the Northland. From then on, Buck became a sled dog. The cold weather, the terrible Husky dogs, the fights, his dead friend and many other things made Buck realize that he was surrounded by savages. There was no fair play, only fight and struggle could help him. Gradually, he became accustomed to new surroundings and got control of new environment. His capability to rule and his great intelligence and good judgment were wonders to everyone. And he often heard some voice of the Wild. Then Buck was sold once more. He had two stupid owners who treated dogs badly and almost killed Buck. They have no ideas about how to use sled dogs and how to distribute food. Therefore, they ended up with tragedy. The last owner John Thornton who rescued Buck，was very intimate with him. But life was hard for Buck. When they lived in a forest, the Yeehats, an India tribe killed all the people, include John. Buck was very angry, so he killed most of the Yeehats. He was very pound of himself, because he killed human, and human were game forbidden to all the wild animals. John was dead. His last tie with man was broken; man and the claims of man no longer bound him. At last, he was ready to answer the call of the wild. He, hunted with wolves, side by side with his wild brothers, shouted as he ran. Sometimes, he raised his head, and with wolves, he sounded the call of the wild. That is the most wonderful voice and hopeful future for Buck. Many cruel facts made Buck have a good understanding that there is no goodness and kindness in this world. There is only one rule: kill or be killed; eat or be eaten off. (London 4) That is too easy. Fight and war like breath are natural and essential. There is no right or wrong, only life and death. He changed from a civilized dog into a merciless and crafty dog. In order to survive, one has to act as Buck did.
2 Darwin’s Theories
It is important to know Darwin‟s theories at first and then to understand Darwinism. Darwinism originally included the broad concepts of transmutation of species or of evolution which gained general scientific acceptance when Charles Darwin published On
