An Eco-critical Reading Of The Call Of The Wild

Jack London was famous writer in the early 20th century in America, and he was thoroughly devoted himself to the idea of Charles Darwin, and Herbert Spencer. Ecological problem is one of the biggest social problems that human world faces in the modern and contemporary. Main task of it is to explore the relationship between man and nature, paying attention to the human development adverse impact on the environment. As a literary theory, ecological criticism is based on the modern development of literature. The Call of the Wild was published in 1903, which is one of London's most-read books, in China, the study on Jack London and his novels is much, but study on the view of ecological criticism is new. It is significant and valuable to study this topic.This paper tries to analyze the novel The Call of the Wild ecologically, use the ecological thoughts embodied in this novel. The paper is divided into five parts. The first part is an introduction about the author and ecological research history and status, research methods. Ecological criticism is developing with the modern civilization, and it explores and reconsiders the existence of people and the modern civilization development. The view of ecological criticism for Jake London's novel The Call of the Wild has a great practical significance.The second part is about the ecological criticism, including the nature crisis, the theory's development and use. Ecological criticism as a literary and cultural criticism method appeared in the 1970s. At the end of the 20th century it gradually began to be the widespread concern. More and more scholars began to explore the theory with the relationship between man and nature, literature and the nature.The third part is reconsidering the ethnocentrism, analyses the criticism to conquer nature, anthropocentrism in the novel, human's cruelty to animal, human's damage to the wild. The novel The Call of the Wild is not complex. The dog. for a variety of reasons, was gradually from civilization of human society eventually to the wolves. It is a regression story. This novel has a lot of ways to be understood. some scholars call it "Darwinian epic". It is more declined to believe that Buck sees through the human's cruelty to animals and then returns to nature. This is human-centered criticism.The fourth part studies the relationship between human and nature, including eco-centrism in the novel, the avoiding of the crisis of human spiritual, human's responsibility to nature, returning to the harmony of man and nature. The development of human civilization should never dehumanize all kinds of animals, people should not be beyond all the laws of nature, and should respect animals, respect nature. The last part is the conclusion. Jack London condemns people who recklessly consume and despoil the nature, and he calls for harmony of man and nature.