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Influence of “Survival of Fittest” on Jack London’ White Fang
ZHANG Mingfei
City College， Kunming Univerisity of Science & Technology，Kunming Yunnan 650051
【Abstract】Darwin put forward evolution and the idea of “survival of the fittest” in the 19th century. Jack London is one of American naturalistic writer是， and his novel White Fang is based on Darwin’s idea， describing all kinds of contradiction caused by “survival of the fittest” and a tendency of naturalism. The novel reflects human life through animal life， displaying Jack London’s view to the human existent reality.
【Key words】survival of the fittest；White Fang；reflection
ⅠIntroduction
Among American naturalistic writers， Jack London’s ideology is the most complicated one. When he was a young boy， he accidentally heard about the introduction to Max and socialism， and he saw a lot in his eyes about the poor life of working class. Therefore he has a great interest to socialism. At the same time， Jack London shows his extremely enthusiasm to Nietzsche’s philosophy and Spencer’s sociology， and he is influenced by Darwin’s idea of “survival of the fittest” and “nature choose”. He uses Darwinism to explain the contradictions among different classes. He believes the working class is the fittest to survival.
All these ideas are reflected in his series of novels on dogs. The most famous one is The Call of the Wild， which is the sister work of White Fang. The hero of White Fang is a part-wolf dog called White Fang， which at last turn to be a real watchdog living in the human world. In this novel， Jack London describes a phenomenon which is the struggle for existence. Darwin’s idea “survival of the fittest” is well expressed in the story.
If what The Call of the Wild describes is a kind of degeneration-- a dog changing into a wolf， which implies the degeneration from the civilization to the barbarism， to White Fang it expresses a kind of evolution， which realized by the change of living environment.
Ⅱ The Influence of “Survival of the Fittest” on White Fang
White Fang was born in a fierce animal world. His father was a wolf， and his mother was a
dog. Since he lived with his mother in the wild， he learned the right of competing for existence in the animal world. However， considering of his own strength and living environment after his mother died， White Fang at last chose “give in” between “give in” and “fight for”. This choice was exactly the reflection of “survival of the fittest” in animal world. In White Fang， through animals eyes， Jack London did all he could do to describe the environment where animals lived was badly and ruthlessly， which is a deep reflection to social life. In order to exist， White Fang came into the world of human beings， where he had to blend in other dogs. In the other dogs’ eyes， White Fang was not a real dog because of his three quarters blood of wolf， therefore there were many fighting between White Fang and the rest of them. Gradually he summed up some existent principles in order to face the constant danger of hurt and even of destruction.
An American bought White Fang and trained him to be a fighting dog. During the period， White Fang lived in the flame of his fierceness； his capacity was molded by the pressure of environment. This character with tenacious and warlike is a portrayal true to Jack London’s own life experience. There was a long time in Jack London’s life he lives in the world with image of “domestic animals”.
At last， White Fang met his last master， who awaked his natural instincts to be a real dog. He experienced the verge of death with his strong will， which finally became “Blessed Wolf” and was accepted by human and other dogs. In the ideal of Jack London， White Fang turns to be a loyal servant of human， which is an expression of evolution and a tendency of naturalism. White Fang ---a part-wolf dog grew up in northern cold wild， but unexpectedly could live very well in warm southland with his master. All these changes proved that weather and environment are not obstacles to live for “the fittest”.
Ⅲ Conclusion
Jack London portrays White Fang as a “strong dog” in life. The image of the strong dog is reflected in the badly environment， especially the struggle for existence in the wild makes White Fang become the strong dog of destiny. However， the worst thing is that the wild dislikes living things， so life is a kind of offense in the wild. To be a living thing in the wild， White Fang was threatened to exist from the start， especially the menace of hunger. The first famine made his sister die， and then in the second famine， he lost his father. These experiences were branded deeply on White Fang’s mind forever， driving him aware of the “existent choice”， which became his own existent philosophy.
Jack London’s novel White Fang involves two worlds： human world and animal world. Jack London doesn’t divided them into two parts to describe， but mixes them together. With the description of animal world， Jack London expresses his understanding to the existent situation of human society. He held “the aim of life is meat， life itself is meat. Life lived on life. There are the eaters and the eaten. The law is EAT OR BE EATEN”. The philosophy of wolf is also the human existent principle， so “survival of the fittest” can meet human world.
参考文献：
[1]Jack London.The Call of the Wild， White Fang and Other Stories [M].北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1994.
[2]Marcus Canliff.The Literature of the United States[M].香港：今日世界出版社，1975
[3]李蓉.浅议杰克伦敦的《白牙》[J].成都行政学院学报，2002.
[4]朱宝荣.杰克伦敦“狗的小说”与自然主义[J].荆州师范学院学报（社科版），2002.
ZHANG Mingfei
City College， Kunming Univerisity of Science & Technology，Kunming Yunnan 650051
【Abstract】Darwin put forward evolution and the idea of “survival of the fittest” in the 19th century. Jack London is one of American naturalistic writer是， and his novel White Fang is based on Darwin’s idea， describing all kinds of contradiction caused by “survival of the fittest” and a tendency of naturalism. The novel reflects human life through animal life， displaying Jack London’s view to the human existent reality.
【Key words】survival of the fittest；White Fang；reflection
ⅠIntroduction
Among American naturalistic writers， Jack London’s ideology is the most complicated one. When he was a young boy， he accidentally heard about the introduction to Max and socialism， and he saw a lot in his eyes about the poor life of working class. Therefore he has a great interest to socialism. At the same time， Jack London shows his extremely enthusiasm to Nietzsche’s philosophy and Spencer’s sociology， and he is influenced by Darwin’s idea of “survival of the fittest” and “nature choose”. He uses Darwinism to explain the contradictions among different classes. He believes the working class is the fittest to survival.
All these ideas are reflected in his series of novels on dogs. The most famous one is The Call of the Wild， which is the sister work of White Fang. The hero of White Fang is a part-wolf dog called White Fang， which at last turn to be a real watchdog living in the human world. In this novel， Jack London describes a phenomenon which is the struggle for existence. Darwin’s idea “survival of the fittest” is well expressed in the story.
If what The Call of the Wild describes is a kind of degeneration-- a dog changing into a wolf， which implies the degeneration from the civilization to the barbarism， to White Fang it expresses a kind of evolution， which realized by the change of living environment.
Ⅱ The Influence of “Survival of the Fittest” on White Fang
White Fang was born in a fierce animal world. His father was a wolf， and his mother was a
dog. Since he lived with his mother in the wild， he learned the right of competing for existence in the animal world. However， considering of his own strength and living environment after his mother died， White Fang at last chose “give in” between “give in” and “fight for”. This choice was exactly the reflection of “survival of the fittest” in animal world. In White Fang， through animals eyes， Jack London did all he could do to describe the environment where animals lived was badly and ruthlessly， which is a deep reflection to social life. In order to exist， White Fang came into the world of human beings， where he had to blend in other dogs. In the other dogs’ eyes， White Fang was not a real dog because of his three quarters blood of wolf， therefore there were many fighting between White Fang and the rest of them. Gradually he summed up some existent principles in order to face the constant danger of hurt and even of destruction.
An American bought White Fang and trained him to be a fighting dog. During the period， White Fang lived in the flame of his fierceness； his capacity was molded by the pressure of environment. This character with tenacious and warlike is a portrayal true to Jack London’s own life experience. There was a long time in Jack London’s life he lives in the world with image of “domestic animals”.
At last， White Fang met his last master， who awaked his natural instincts to be a real dog. He experienced the verge of death with his strong will， which finally became “Blessed Wolf” and was accepted by human and other dogs. In the ideal of Jack London， White Fang turns to be a loyal servant of human， which is an expression of evolution and a tendency of naturalism. White Fang ---a part-wolf dog grew up in northern cold wild， but unexpectedly could live very well in warm southland with his master. All these changes proved that weather and environment are not obstacles to live for “the fittest”.
Ⅲ Conclusion
Jack London portrays White Fang as a “strong dog” in life. The image of the strong dog is reflected in the badly environment， especially the struggle for existence in the wild makes White Fang become the strong dog of destiny. However， the worst thing is that the wild dislikes living things， so life is a kind of offense in the wild. To be a living thing in the wild， White Fang was threatened to exist from the start， especially the menace of hunger. The first famine made his sister die， and then in the second famine， he lost his father. These experiences were branded deeply on White Fang’s mind forever， driving him aware of the “existent choice”， which became his own existent philosophy.
Jack London’s novel White Fang involves two worlds： human world and animal world. Jack London doesn’t divided them into two parts to describe， but mixes them together. With the description of animal world， Jack London expresses his understanding to the existent situation of human society. He held “the aim of life is meat， life itself is meat. Life lived on life. There are the eaters and the eaten. The law is EAT OR BE EATEN”. The philosophy of wolf is also the human existent principle， so “survival of the fittest” can meet human world.
参考文献：
[1]Jack London.The Call of the Wild， White Fang and Other Stories [M].北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1994.
[2]Marcus Canliff.The Literature of the United States[M].香港：今日世界出版社，1975
[3]李蓉.浅议杰克伦敦的《白牙》[J].成都行政学院学报，2002.
[4]朱宝荣.杰克伦敦“狗的小说”与自然主义[J].荆州师范学院学报（社科版），2002.