Survival Against Nature: Comparative Analysis of Crane and London

In literature, novelists develop ideas and compare them to human nature although many try to express them differently. For example, Crane on his literary work 'The Open Boat' and London's short story 'To Build A Fire' collocates naturalism and humanity (Crane 17). Both writers have similar ideas in the applications of their stories. The theme of survival against nature brought up in both stories. Characters believe that they are strong and they can survive during tough times, although they have an idea that they can die. In contrast, the two writers illustrate the theme in different ways, through the positioning of human view and the interaction of characters, for instance, London employs the term Omniscient to draw the attention of the audience while Crane uses the third person to tell the story. Similarly, the presentation of the theme of survival against nature varies. London uses one character to present the characters' actions while Crane uses four characters.

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Naturalism in the literature shows the connection between individuals and nature, concentrating on the importance of characters in their milieu. Jack London and Stephen Crane show many traits of humanity relating to our place in the world of nature Campbell (500). They both wrote about modern and realistic topics and heavily dwelt on existentialist motifs. Both used mediums to spread their message (London 7). For example, London seemed to use a dog in his book "To Build a Fire" which shows greater bond and faithfulness to that of man and Crane is the degree of human terror in the human when faced by war.

Stephen Crane in "The Open Boat" shows nature's indifference to humanities fate (Crane 7-8). He views nature as the player who holds all the cards in his book. In "The little boat," Cranes tries to explain to the audience that man himself cannot determine the consequence of his/her life, man cannot control nature (Ranta n.p). He tries to use the statement of "Survival of the fittest" by Darwin to explain that nature chooses a specific path which we must follow, and we must adapt and try to survive.

In the "Law of Life," London tries to compare his literal works to the significance of life and nature (Ranta n.p). He states that only the young and sturdy will survive, while the old and feeble will succumb to pressures by nature supporting Cranes ideas though in a different way (London 4-5). In his "To Build a Fire" book, London explains naturalism via its deterministic subjects, showing the representation of the environment. "Determinism" is a consequence of naturalism that posits that a man has no free will.

Works Cited

Crane, Stephen. The open boat and other stories. W. Heinemann, 1898

Crane, Stephen. The Open Boat: And Other Tales of Adventure. Doubleday & McClure Company, 1898.

Ranta, Lari. "American Literature II." (2019).

London, Jack. To build a fire. Bantam Classics, 2007.

Campbell, Donna. "American Literary Naturalism: Critical Perspectives." Literature Compass 8.8 (2011): 499-513.

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