《荒野的呼喚》之生態(tài)意識解讀

1、荒野的呼喚之生態(tài)意識解讀【】“ Return to the wilderness ” has been recognized as one of the eternal motif of eco-literature. Modern man s “ comfortable ” life amidst the convenience of technology has caused them to suffer from spiritual death. To escape this humanfrailty, exploration of the underlined ecological c

2、onsciousness in the field of literary criticism enjoys immense theoretical and practical significance. In this thesis the author applies the theory of Deep Ecology proclaimed by Arne Naess, George Sessions to the analysis of Jack London s The Call of the Wild, and demonstrate that life quality lies

3、in simplicity and purity. Only through returning to the wilderness can we find ourselves again.【s】 The Call of the Wild;ecological consciousness;returnThe central question that this paper attempts to address is:“Why does Jack London, the famous Americanrebel , continue to use wilderness in his works

4、 in a time when wilderness, for most purpose, has ceased to exist?As wilderness ceased to exist, one might expect that it would have ceased to be a valid subject for any writer attempting to discuss or explain the mind of the modern American; one might expect modern writers, who were so involved wit

5、h the modern city, to have little or nothingto do with wilderness. However, quite the opposite occurred: Jack London wrote of wilderness and nature. By focusing on the relationship between the inner self and the natural world, he voiced his concern, despair and outrage towards the over-civilized soc

6、iety, in which the individual was physically and spiritually separated from nature.As is known to all, writers are not simply those who understand the human hearts and who can involve us in the subtleties of human relationships; frequently they are social critics. They question our ethics, our moral

7、 principles that are shaped by each particular culture. To Jack London, the wilderness his dog hero Buck returns provides a means of expression and constitutes analternative to the fractured society. Jack London s sense of wilderness, his criticism of society and its ethicalsystems coincide with the

8、 nascent science of Deep Ecology in unexpected ways.1. DeepEcology as a Methodology for literary CriticismAs Paul Ehrlich once said, “ people have learned the word ecology , now they are going to have to learn what it means! ” In 1972, Arne Naess, the professor of the University of Oslo coined the t

9、erm“Deep Ecology” todescribe a new philosophical movement based on earth-centric values. It is a philosophy about the nature of the world and the humanplace in this world, or the human relation to the world part of it or apart from it. The main concern has been to bring about a shift in the percepti

10、ons, values, and lifestyles in order to reverse the ecologically destructive path of modern industrial societies.There are three major principles that lead to the deep ecological perspective: Social crisis is the deep root of eco-crisis; Self-identification with nature and self-realization towards w

11、holeness are the largest aim of human existence;“Simple in means, rich in ends ” initiates an ideal ecological way of life. These principles coexist and interrelate with each other and enjoy great popularity throughout the world.Scientific thought often has its corollary culture expression in litera

12、ture and other arts. Although emerged informally as a philosophical and socialmovement during the 1960s, Deep Ecology s capacity to synthesize and integrate a wide range of knowledge produces a generalized perspective in literary criticism, a sweeping “ point of view ” . What deep ecologists proclai

13、med as self-identification with nature, self-realization towards wholeness and appreciation of life quality are beginning to be rediscovered in widely read literary works.2. Textual Analysis of The Call of the WildAs one of the masterpiece of Jack London, The Call of the Wild is the story of a domes

14、tic dog?half St. Bernard, half Scotch Shepherd namedBuck, whois stolen from his home in California and madeto serve as a sled dog in the Yukon. Exposed to the savage brutality of both men and dogs in the wilderness, Buck is forced to fight for his life until John Thornton rescues him. When Thornton

15、is murdered, Buck returns to the wild and becomes the leader of a pack of wolves. To the hero Buck, self-identification and realization are manifested by two departures:He will firstleave from the warm civilized world he has known to the frozen unknown wilderness, and then he will depart the company

16、 of sled dogs and masters to enter the mystical, timeless wild to gain his freedom and wholeness.Buck s return from the sunny ranch to the frozen North, from a pet dog to the wild wolf maybe the perfect statement of London s longing for a more ecological way of living within nature.The house from wh

17、ich Buck comes is in manicured perfection. Buck s existence is“sun- kissed. ” He lives here in splendor, other dogs are present, but he considers himself at the top of everyone, including humans. He is neither a house dog nor a kennel dog. The whole realm belongs to him. He escorts the judge s daugh

18、ters on walks; he hunts with his sons; carries his grandchildren on his back. But right before the kidnapping, London takes care to include aspects of Buck that seemoddly at variance with his idyllic life. First of all, he is amixed breed, so the dignity of his world is slightly marred by his lack o

19、f pedigree. Secondly, he is no delicatecreature who sits prettily because his love of exercise hardens his muscles. The other dogs, a Japanese pug and a Mexican hairless, are exotic, ornamental breeds, inadequate companions for a dog of Buck's strength and caliber. He muchprefers to hunt and amb

20、le with the Judge's offspring, yet Buck's owner does not give him anopportunity to behave as nature would demand. Being civilized, all his value w as to“ die for a moralconsideration, say the defense of Judge Miller sriding- whip” a symbolical resonant piece of his master s private property.

21、 We begin to wonder how happy Buck truly is in this environment. Perhaps he is better suited to another life, even though he does not know it yet.Buck is flung from the so-called civilized world to the wildness, but he belongs to this place. Northland wilderness is depicted as an appropriate setting

22、 for the call to adventure; it is invariably a place of “impossible delight ” . In the hostile North he has entered, Buck learns to adapt to the new environment and codes of living. His development of heightened senses, callous muscles, and hardened stomach is rapid. Buck has learned a new set of li

23、fe skills. “ His development is rapid ” . Having push his body to the extreme limits of endurances as a sled dog; having survived the freezing temperatures and meager amounts of food and watched his back to defend himself against savage dogs who wish to kill him, Buck finally reaches the final stage

24、s of the quest: identification with the wild. The results are peculiar, as described in thefamous “ ecstasy ” passage:There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life can not rise This ecstasy came to Buck, leading the pack, sounding the wolf-cry, straining after the food tha

25、t was alive and that fled swiftly before him through the moonlight. ” Hewas sounding the deeps of his nature, and the parts of his nature that were deeper than he, going back into the Womb of Time.Having changed from a civilized dog to the wild wolf by regaining all the long-dead traits of his ances

26、tors; having gone through the inner transformation as he overcomes obstacles to reach his objective, Buck answers the call of t he wild touching noses with the wolves and running through the pale moonlight and glimmering borealis. Buck s self -realization towards wholeness occurs when he joins the w

27、olf pack and passes into Indian legend to become the great Ghost dog. Once again, Buck is mostly in control of his own fate, mentally, physically and spiritually, and we are happy for him. Here London may well end the story of Buck, but he continues with this sentence:“The yearswere not many when th

28、e Yeehats noted a change in the breed of timber wolves ” . In this sense, the author wants to show us the implication: Buck survives and prospers in the wilderness. The fact that Buck has offspring indicates he will live on eternally, while this would not have happened in the sun-kissed Santa Clara

29、valley, so his journey was well worth it.3.conclusionAfter rereading The Call of the Wild and interpreting it from deep ecological perspective,we are appalled to seethe great insight of Jack London. He is not an ecologist, yet his sincere concern towards the inner nature of human beings, towards the

30、 inseparable relationship between nature and culture echoes the principles of Deep Ecology.Buck may turn to a beast in the story, but how about the human who turned the dog into a beast? What is the thing that at last turned him into a wolf far from the warm sunshine pet- hood in the judge s house? Maybe, the author was trying to remind us of the potential similar danger everyone of us faceWe are in an endangered world.Civilization has brought us rapid progress,yet somethingwild