Topics for final exam

White Fang by Jack London “White Fang” occurs in Yukon Territory, Canada during the Gold Rush. Two man named Billy and Harry are supposed to deliver a coffin, in the way wolves attack them, Billy and all their wolf-dog hybrids are eaten but Harry can run away. On the other hand, a She-wolf named Kiche takes revenge by killing all lynx that has killed her mate One Eye. Kiche is found by Grey who knows her as his brother’s wolf-dog and takes care of her and her cub. The cub is named White Fang.  White Fang has a harsh life in the Indian camp; the current puppy pack, seeing him as a wolf, immediately attacks him. He is saved by the Indians, but the pups never accept him, and the leader Lip-lip singles him out for persecution. White Fang grows to become a savage, morose, solitary, and deadly fighter, "the enemy of his kind." Later Grey becomes an alcoholic under the “mercy” of Beauty Smith and White Fang is supposed to fight with dogs, in the fight with Bull Dog, he nearly suffocates but a rich young man named Weedon Scott rescues him. Scott tames him and White Fang peruses him on the way back to California, so Scott surrenders. There White Fang rescues Scott’s father from death and is named “The Blessed Wolf”. In the end he is relaxing under the sun raising his puppies.

The whole story is an allegory for human beings’ society and civilization where as Nietzsche says “superman” or as Spencer calls “survival of the fittest” can be easily seen. As was the case with the fictional Martin Eden, London was highly influenced by Spencer (Joseph Scimbra, The philosophy of Jack London). It was a fascination that lasted throughout his life. Both animalistic and humanistic lives are full of violence for White Fang. He proves he is the fittest; he is the strongest cub which survives. He has strength; intelligence makes him the frightful dog. He fights with the dogs and survives, even those three bullets which were supposed to kill him do nothing and amazingly he goes on.
On the Naturalism, it begins form the very beginning where both Wolves and Humans must try to survive in that snowy white lands and the killing cold of the area. Earl. J. Wilcox mentions in his essay the setting of this land of the White Silence, delineated so thoroughly in London's early stories and novel. Here is nature, which London personifies throughout as the “wild,” both man's and beast's great enemy. Nature is the inscrutable force that must be fought against day and night for survival. And the beasts are part of a world which the naturalists called the “hostile environment” where pressures from every side dictate its creatures' survival. Furthermore, man and animal are the victims of their elemental drives, which are, in turn, motivated by their environment, the biological need to survive, and by the hereditary traits of the characters. For example, when Buck is placed in the great North, his first instinct is to survive in this new and different environment. The biological need to survive influences the actions of both Buck and White Fang during the earliest parts of both novels. Likewise, the hereditary traits in Buck's makeup have lain dormant for generations, but during the course of the novel, he begins to hear the primitive "call of the wild," which arouses a deep instinctual urge in him and forces him, finally, to answer the various calls of the wild. As a result, he finally resorts to the primitive forces that have lain dormant in him. In contrast, White Fang is primitive, but because he possesses some part of the tame dog, the wolf part of his psyche is able to respond to human compassion and love, and thus he is able to finally function within a civilized society
Going back to Darwin, London describes White Fang in the way that he “became quicker of movement than the other dogs, swifter of foot, craftier, deadlier, more lithe, more lean with iron like muscle and sinew, more enduring, more cruel, more ferocious, and more intelligent.” He perfectly shows that how environment makes White Fang superior to his race but “White Fang knew the law well: to oppress the weak and obey the strong.”. As Joseph Scrimba refers in his Philosophy of Jack London:


“Nietzsche expounded his theory of the "beyond - man" or "superman." The "superman" was perfect in both mind and body. He was unmatched in strength and intelligence. He was also not encumbered by religious or social mores.”

It can be said that Jack London depicts a “superman” figure or it is better said “super dog” in this novel: A wolf-dog who is much better than both wolves and dogs and has an unbelievable power to resist and survive.

12. 
    Jungle by Upton Sinclair To many foreigners, America was the land of opportunity, where the streets were paved with gold. Unfortunately, ‘gold’ tended to be sludge from a lack of sewer systems, and the opportunities were more for the rich and abled. Poverty, bigotry, street and white collar crime infested in cities across the country. Progressives, people who wanted to push for modernization and change in areas from sexism to free trade, can be credited for the changes in law and ideology in the early twentieth century. Journalists who exposed the nitty gritty truths of society, who took images of overpopulated ghettos and documented political corruption were called muckrakers, and Upton Sinclair was one of them. Upton Sinclair, whose controversial writing pushed him into the limelight, can be credited for some of the reforms established during the early 1900s. His book, The Jungle, features the life of Jurgis Rudkus, a Lithuanian immigrant and meatpacker in Chicago during the turn of the century. Much of his work highlighted the plights and horrible working conditions many workers experienced; poor sanitation, health risks, discrimination and appalling works hours and wages were the reality for many employees. In The Jungle, Upton Sinclair accurately portrays the working conditions for poor factory workers during the Progressive Era. A lack of sanitation and an abundance of health risks were prevalent in metropolises during the early 20th century, as well as in The Jungle. One of the issues that faced workers were the drastic temperatures. “The breathing of the cold, damp air all day has brought {the cough} back,” described Sinclair. In 1906, workrooms of young girls recorded temperatures of 38 1 degrees Fahrenheit six degrees above freezing temperature without any ventilation. The lack 2 of daylight also affected workers one of the character’s daily routines included that, “she was 1 Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (New York: Penguin Groups, 2001), 9. 2 James Reynolds and Charles Neill to the President, 2 June 1906, The NeillReynolds Commission Report, 5; Meyers Packet 2, Source B. shut up in one of the rooms where people seldom saw daylight” . A report from 1906 recorded 3 that, “most of the rooms are so dark… Many inside rooms where food is prepared are without window, deprived of sunlight and without direct communication with the outside air. They may be best described as vaults in which air rarely changes.” Many other risks were even more 4 deadly and a lot were rooted in the imminent filth of the workhouses. The meatpacking house Jurgis worked at was described that, “on the killing beds you were apt to be covered with blood, and it would freeze solid.” As horrifying an image, the truth was almost more appalling 5 investigators saw “meat shoveled from filthy wooden floors, piled on tables, rarely washed, pushed from room to room in rooten box carts, in all of which processes it was in the way of gathering dirt, splinters, floor filth, and the expectoration of tuberculous and other diseased workers.” All of this muck and grime only led to the festering of diseases in workers, bodies 6 serving as incubators for parasites, bacteria and other infectious organisms. Jurgis recounts how the sickly meat was still sold, as “the caracces of steers which had been condemned as tubercular by the government inspectors, and which contained ptomaines, which are deadly poisons, were carted away to be sold in the city.” Tuberculosis is a widespread, and even to this day, fatal 7 disease. Many workers were affected due to direct exposure, in turn infecting the dozens they lived in close quarters with. Historically, physicians proved that tuberculosis was prevailing disproportionately in the stockyards, and that the spongy, wooden floors of the workhouses only fed the disease in the victims. Sometimes the deaths were not due to disease but workplace 8 3 Upton Sinclair, 12. 4 James Reynolds and Charles Neill, 2. 5 Upton Sinclair, 92. 6 James Reynolds and Charles Neill, 4. 7 Upton Sinclair, 110. 8 James Reynolds and Charles Neill, 4. accidents. Jurgis describes the workhouse, “with men rushing about at the speed they kept up at the killing beds, and all with butcher knives, like razors, in their hands well, it was to be counted as a wonder that there were not more men slaughtered than cattle.” These injuries added up to 9 mass deaths amongst immigrants, who made up the majority of the working class. Approximately one fourth of steel workers were injured or killed each year. Unfortunately for these families, there was not life insurance to help pick up the slack Pennsylvania courts ruled that owners of companies did not have to pay for the injuries or deaths of immigrants. Poor 10 light, freezing or boiling temperatures, and filth so severe workers often found death through workplace accidents or disease were all key points in The Jungle, as well as harsh realities. The cold temperatures, while preserving meat or other goods, disrupted the homeostasis of workers, particularly those smaller like girls and young women, and dim, artificial light did not only add stifling discomfort to the eyes, but increased the vitamin D deficiency in the poor factory employees, who were unable to see the sun. The filth, injuries and ever present disease really drive the dangers of poor sanitation and health standards home though, which Upton Sinclair does very well. Despite aiming towards the inequality of American society, The Jungle was most successful for driving legislators as well as the public to establish workplace health codes and laws that are still in place today. Unfortunately, life for minority workers in America were not renditions of “Chicago” or “An American Tail”. Sexism and nativism led to prostitution and cut wages for women and immigrants facts Upton Sinclair makes sure to bring to light. Jurgis Rudkus and his family are all Lithuanian immigrants. To big name employers, a lack of English was a green light for 9 Upton Sinclair, 92. 10 David Brody, “Slavic Immigrants in the Steel Mills”, The Private Side of American History, (1975): 12739; Meyers Packet 1, Source F, 3. scamming and cheating foreigners. Sinclair narrates one of the Rudkus family’s experiences with being deceived, saying that “Marija had been cheated out of her pay for 300 cans.” In 11 retrospect, a lack of substantial funds, partially due to being scammed or paid less than due, was a reality for many immigrants. At the time, an average family would need fifteen dollars a week to survive and two thirds of immigrants made less than $12.50. Of course, not all of the 12 working class was male, and women, as history has proven time and time again, have bore the brunt end of most everything. Back in The Jungle, after Marija is fired, a new job opportunity pops up. Marija is described as tall and strong, which her new employer notices. Jurgis recalls that, “he discharged a man and put Marija a little more that half what he had been paying before.” Women being paid lower wages than men is a sad truth that is still relevant to this day, 13 and even more so in Chicago, 1906, the setting of The Jungle. Over ninety percent of women in factories were paid under twelve dollars a week, a stark comparison to the male statistic of under sixtytwo percent. Wages weren’t even the worst of women’s worries; the daunting reality of 14 the cathouse encompassed most aspects of the female workforce. Ona, Jurgis’s sixteen year old wife, states that, “there was no place in {Packingtown} where a prostitute could not get along better than a decent girl.” The truth to Sinclair’s controversial claim rings with truth in 1910, 15 every large city had it’s own “redlight district”. While illegal, prostitution was tolerated and accepted by the police force, and sexual crimes were constantly in the shadows or overlooked.
    
13.