Man Versus Nature and Theory of Naturalism - Essay Example

?Man v/s Nature Introduction Lots of discussions and debates have been performed on the topic man v/s nature. The relationship of man with nature is either harmonious or indifferent. But the major question is that how can nature be compared with man? The comparison always takes place between two persons or things with similar qualities, abilities. Man is not and cannot be separated from nature. He is the part of nature. He, like other natural things is the small component of nature, so how can he be greater than nature? Nature always shows its love and through the sweet fragrance stored in the flowers, luminance of the stars, in the divine blueness of the sky, enchanting notes of the soft breeze, and sometimes it gives clouds of munificence. On the contrary sometimes it becomes like a foe of man in the form of the grim harshness of the rough oceans, thundering and sometimes deadly lightning, earthquakes, tsunamis, violent blizzard and fatal frozen climate. The nature proves its valour through various such disasters and calamities which in a moment destroy the human existence. Famous English poet, William Blake shows two contradictory forms of nature one is innocent (Lamb) and another is fierce, violent (Tiger) in his collection of poems “Songs of Innocence,” and “Song of Experience.” Through it the nature always shows the fragility of human existence. Nature is neutral. It is the man, whose perception is different. While discussing on the topic “Man v/s Nature,” The theory of naturalism is important to be discussed to understand the relationship between nature and its inhabitants. Key words: Naturalism, nature, man, harmonious, indifferent The Theory of Naturalism: The theory of Naturalism can be defined as a theory in literature which highlights the role of environment upon human characters. The writers between the age of 1880 and 1940 were influenced by the theory of Naturalism. As per the theory of naturalism, man cannot change the natural situations or the environment. It is not in his hands and it is completely beyond his control, but he has to accept the situation as it is and adapt himself to suit the existing natural environment. He has to change his character and his lifestyle according to the condition of nature. Then only he will survive. The Application of the Naturalism theory in “Open Boat,” and “To Build a Fire” The same theory of Naturalism is the base of many writers of the age of 1880 and 1940. Among them were the two major writers, Stephen Crane and Jack London. Their short stories have been taken into consideration for the discussion. The first one is “Open Boat,” written by Stephen Crane, and another is “To Build a Fire,” by Jack London. Both of these stories are based on the eternal struggle of man against nature and their partial or complete defeat to fight with against nature. These stories depict man’s fight for survival against extreme adverse conditions of nature. “The Open Boat” is a true story based on the actual incident happened in the writer’s life when he was travelling to Cuba to work as a newspaper correspondent. He was caught in the fierce ocean and was fighting for life for 30 hours along. He had been accompanied by his three companions. His four characters of this story include the Captain, the oiler, the correspondent, and the cook. These are the human character and one more character appears throughout the story which is non human and abstract, and it is nature. Nature has played the role of an antagonist of this story. It can be described as a revenge story in which the revenge is being taken by nature according to Crane’s point of view. At least the tone of the story expresses the enmity between man and the nature. All of these four men are ceaselessly trying to save their boat from the menace of swamping. The writer wants to indicate that nature has a lack of concern of what is happening with the man and thus behaves like a retaliating antagonist. Indifference of Nature towards Man The birds are sitting comfortably and they have nothing to do with the wrath of sea and the men fighting for their survival. The sun also is indifferent and apathetic of their condition. The shore is lonely and indifferent as well. Everything is going smoothly and no one from the nature cares the drowning men. The indifferences showed from everywhere makes the four men feel that they are alienated from nature. “When it occurs to a man that nature does not regard him as important . . . he at first wishes to throw bricks at the temple, and he hates deeply the fact that there are no bricks and no temples . . . . Thereafter he knows the pathos of his situation.” (Stephan Crane Section VI) All the members of the boat started feeling that they are lonely and their existence is insignificance in the colossal clutter of the Universe. The nature is same just the human perception changes. Sometimes, the man feels that nature is caring, and sometimes he thinks that the nature is indifferent to him. “This tower . . . represented . . . the serenity of nature amid the struggles of the individual—nature in the wind, and nature in the vision of men. She did not seem cruel to him then, nor beneficent, nor treacherous, nor wise . . . she was indifferent, flatly indifferent.” (Stephan Crane)(Section VII, “The Open Boat) At the end of the short stories all the survivors from the boat remains speechless towards the lack of concern from nature side. They strongly feel that the nature is a merciless power and man’s existence is not like a mere drop of ocean. Naturalism theory became popular among the literary circle with Charles Darwin’s and Herbert Spenser’s theory of evolution. The naturalism views that the environment or the nature is very apathetic towards the inhabitants. The deterministic environment plays a very vital role in this story and individualism does not matter at all. That is the reason why the protagonist of this story has not been given a particular name. His identity or his individualism is not important but the theory of existentialism is more important. Naturalism of Jack London Like Crane, Jack London carries the same theory of existentialism in his short story “To Build a Fire.” The story takes place on the harsh, frozen terrain of Alaska and Canada where your basic aim is survival. One cannot apply one’s intellectuality while facing the extreme natural situation. For the survival in such adverse natural condition, the civilized intellect does not work but one need to have the intense will for survival. The dog along with the man is another character in this story. It plays a significant role in the story. It is the representative of instinctual reactor to the situation. To face the adverse natural condition on has to find out the natural way. One has to be close to nature to face with it. The dog does the same thing. It uses its fur coat for protection. It is more aware of the situation and finding way to its survival. “The animal was depressed by the tremendous cold. It knew that it was no time for travelling. Its instinct told it a truer tale than was told to the man by the man's judgment.” (London) The dog is thus instinctivist which has proved useful than the intellectuality of the man. While depicting the instinctivist approach of the dog, the writer quotes, “The dog did not know anything about thermometers. Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the man's brain. But the brute had its instinct.”(London) The coldness was brutal and it was not easy to survive. The situations were beyond the control of human beings. Death can come anytime. In such circumstance, one has to be physically and mentally prepared. London here constantly reveals that man is the puppet in the hands of destiny. He advocates the deterministic philosophy. The natural actions can never be regulated according to the man’s will. Man can just predict the consequences and accordingly can take care of the potential threats. Some of his actions were mere a bad luck such as his falling through the snow while some of the activities cannot be called mere bad luck but on the other hand they were his faults. For example apart from having been warned about the perils in travelling alone in such a cold region, the man takes the challenge and goes on his expedition in a snowy and deserted area where the temperature is below -75 degree Celsius. One cannot take nature responsible. Second fault which the man makes is that he tries to make a fire under the spruce tree which is totally frozen. When the fire burns the snow on the fire started melting and it causes more danger. The writer wants to show how illogically man can behave when he calls himself the most intellectual and logical person. Both of these stories show how man is helpless and insignificant against the force of nature. Both of these stories show how man is not the owner of his own will and cannot control the natural disasters. In both of the stories all the characters know the dangers and consequences of their actions and still they go on doing the adventure. They know that sea is bound to be fierce and will likely to take their lives, nevertheless they went on for the sea voyage. The sea had never invited them to come and face the trouble. Same case is with the man who was wandering in Alaska region. Apart from being warned he accepts the perilous life. In both of these cases one cannot call the nature enemy but it is the fault of man which led him to bear the adversaries. Both the writers have depicted the theory of naturalism. But their style of depicting naturalism is different. Crane’s mood is sarcastic and blaming. He condemns nature for being indifferent to man. He really treats the nature as his enemy. But Jack London’s tone is comparatively mild. He has never blamed nature for being apathetic towards the man. On the contrary he shows man’s fault through his overconfidence, lack of instinct approach. Both of these stories show how mere intelligence is useless. Citation: 1. Crane Stephan, “The Open Boat and other Stories,” (Section VI) Dover Publication, published in 1893 2. Jack London, “To Build a Fire and other Stories,” (pg.105) published by Digireads.com publishing. Published in 2008 Read More