Naturalism and Realism in "To Build a Fire"

"To Build a Fire" by Jack London is a great work of Naturalism as well as obviously Realism. Realism is a genre in which it is all about relating to the reader (Werlock). Realism works are about writing what is real and what people can relate to in order to get them to listen better to the author (Werlock). One particular detail caught my eye in the first paragraph that I thought illustrated this idea well in a somewhat strange way:

"It was a steep bank, and he paused for breath at the top, excusing the act to himself by looking at his watch" (London).

Now most people would consider this quote to be insignificant and not mean anything whatsoever to the general idea of the story. And, truth be told, they would probably be right. However, I think that it does help illustrate an important aspect of Realism, and that is in making the reader relate to the story. As the story opens, the reader is made aware that the man is on a long hike, and he is obviously getting very tired. As he reaches the top of a hill, he has to stop in order to catch his breath but he looks at his watch just to prove to himself that it was not really just a break after all. This small act struck me in its truthfulness. Many people go through their lives and they just really need a break but are unwilling to admit to themselves that they need to take one. Because of this, they often come up with excuses in order to give themselves that needed break while also being able to maintain the idea in their own minds that it is not a break at all. This truthfulness, and the way it represents an act that is common in humans, if a fundamental part of Realism.

The work is also a great example of Naturalism. Naturalism is the subgenre of Realism that is more closely related to Rationalism (Sommers). In Naturalism a more scientific approach is taken to writing. The story is usually a record of a person placed in a hostile environment and it chronicles their adventures and how they cope with their predicament. This is based upon the theories of Darwin that humans are nothing more than high-order animals who have no free will. Though they have no free will, they are still able to act upon their instincts in order to cope with situations (Sommers).

This idea of humans acting simply upon their compulsions is displayed well in the story. One of the driving factors of humanity is greed. Many times people ignore the consequences when they are in search of more, more, more. In this story, the main character does just that as he braves the hostile Alaskan environment simply in order to find gold (London). This driving sense of greed is very common in Naturalism writings (Sommers). It simply proves that humans will do almost anything, even incredibly stupid things, if it means they will get what they are after.

London, Jack. "To Build a Fire." American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 601-614. Print.

Sommers, Joseph Michael. "naturalism." In Maunder, Andrew. Facts On File Companion to the British Short Story. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CBSS450&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 15, 2011).

Werlock, Abby H. P. "realism." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Feb 13, 2011.