Rereading Jack London’s The Sea-Wolf From Ecocriticism Perspective

Jack London (1876-1916) is an important American realistic writer living in the late19th century and early20th century. In many of his works such as northland tales and his famed animal stories, London casts the characters in harsh natural environment, depicting how they tap their full potential and thus attain full manhood from the nature. Still, London, who lived in America where the fast-paced industrialization was in the initial stage, also expressed concerns on how men are distorted by industrialization and material desire. Therefore, this paper attempts to reread The Sea-Wolf, one of London’s most reprinted works, in this light so as to offer a brand new insight into London’s ecological ideas and concerns.Eco-criticism, a late development in literary criticism, which found its voice in the1970s and gained momentum in the1990s, studies the relationship between literature and nature. It struggles against anthropocentrism, holding that all species have their own intrinsic value and that men are a part of a much wider eco-system.This paper consists of four chapters. The Chapter1, or the Introduction, offers a review on the previous studies on Jack London at home and abroad. Meanwhile, an overview on eco-criticism and the focus of this paper will also be presented in this part. Chapter2explores the ecological imbalances as depicted in the fiction in terms of natural ecology, social ecology and spiritual ecology. This chapter focuses on London’s ecological concerns by discussing how the isolation from nature makes men underdeveloped both physically and psychologically and how material desire driven by industrialization makes men distorted and causes environmental destruction. Chapter3elaborates on the possible ways to restore the ecological balance between men, nature and the human society. In this chapter, London’s implied suggestions on return to nature so as to retain full manhood will be highlighted in the discussion. Still, his implication on restriction of material desire to avoid unwanted environmental destruction is also discussed here in this chapter. Chapter4, or the Conclusion, summarizes Jack London’s ecological ideas as manifested in The Sea-Wolf. London points out that logic of domination and material desire are the root causes of ecological imbalance, and the way out of this deadlock is restricting mankind’s material desire shifting from human-centeredness to eco-centrism and returning to nature. Then, by rereading The Sea-Wolf, this paper attempts to offer new insight into London’s ignored ecological ideas revealed in this novel and point out viable measures to walk out of the ecological dilemma. So this paper has important significance in dealing with the increasingly aggravating ecological crisis in the21st century.