English 8 London, “To Build a Fire”

REALISM: a nineteenth-century response to science and technology, involving a DETAILED, OBJECTIVE presentation of ORDINARY–rather than heroic–life, showing good and bad, hope and despair.

NATURALISM: a further development of realism with greater emphasis on science, especially biological evolution, and on man as a part of nature (Darwin), on man as an animal fighting for survival (SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST). In the conception of Naturalism, man lacks free will and a spiritual nature, is determined by heredity, experience, and environment (DETERMINISM). The universe is indifferent to man, who is just another creature (INDIFFERENCE OF UNIVERSE). There is no absolute moral order. Each man tends to represent his species, and plot actions tend to illustrate general scientific principles rather than specific personal characteristics.

Note the emphasis on the biological and environmental.

Note the contrast between the chechaquo's lack of experience and the dog's instincts. Which is superior in this situation, the man or the dog? Reason or instinct?

Note the lack of love and intimacy between man and dog. What is the relationship between the two? Why are they together? What is the dog's concern at the end?

Note references to the sky, etc. as references to the larger universe. What does London seem to be saying about the larger universe and its relationship to the chechaquo and to man in general?

Why is neither the man or the dog given a name?

How do your observations about the story reveal the story to be an example of Naturalism? How does London emphasize survival of the fittest, determinism, and the indifference of the universe?