Determinism
By: Yan • Essay • 341 Words • December 4, 2009 • 1,090 Views
Essay title: Determinism
Perhaps the most enthralling literary movement in American history was the movement of Naturalism. Naturalism is a writing style that aims at recreating nature in its entirety. An element similar to naturalism, determinism is a style which expresses that all outcomes are the result of an unbroken chain of previous actions. Yet another extension of naturalism, social Darwinism takes the theory of Charles Darwin, survival of the fittest, and applies it to characters in a story. A story that utilizes all of these styles is Jack LondonпїЅs To Build a Fire; and it does so quite beautifully.
First, we observe the use of naturalism in To Build a Fire. The most obvious use would have to be the very descriptive environment. The use of exact temperatures makes this story all the more chilling (no pun intended). Another would be the descriptive repercussions of said temperatures on his body. When these two are used together, we know exactly what our protagonist is going through, and why. A final use of naturalism that seems to stick out would be the snow fell and foiled our poor heroпїЅs fire. All of these, used in conjunction, create a complex setting that is hauntingly descripted in its actions.
Next, we observe the use of determinism