Naturalism in “To Build a Fire” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee”

Despite belonging to different genres, “The Cremation of Sam McGee” and “To Build a Fire” can both be considered as Naturalistic in terms of literary criticism. Naturalism, a literary movement which is closely connected to the scientific and realistic manner of thinking which was prevalent towards the turn of the 20th century, has distinctive features. Some of these include the realistic style in narration found in naturalism, themes such as Man versus Nature and Death/Survival, and the power of nature in Naturalism. In this paper, these and other various characteristics of Naturalism will be discussed with illustrations from the two texts.

Naturalistic literature is realistic in its nature. Writers in this literary movement aim to portray events as they are without putting emphasis on emotions. This form of realism can be noted in “To Build a Fire” wherein the narrator paints a vivid picture of a man travelling through cold and bitter weather with a dog. The narrator reports the events in the story as they occur. Similar narration style, even though in the perspective of one of the characters, is evident in Service’s “The Cremation of Sam McGee”. The narration in both of these texts focuses on the sequence of events and description of things as they are-a common feature in realistic literature.

In addition to realism, Naturalistic literature also usually concerns itself with themes of death and survival. These themes are more often than not connected with nature, meaning that the need for survival or the occurrence of death will happen as a result of nature. Sam McGee dies because of the harsh and cold conditions in Service’s poem. The lone man in “To Build a Fire” tries to survive the cold weather through his journey by building a fire after getting wet but eventually dies too. These themes reveal the perception of nature by most naturalistic writers: nature is an unstoppable force which has the power to commence or end existence.

This portrayal of nature as an uncompromising force that encompasses everything in it is one of the more common features of Naturalistic literature. The power of nature is evident in “To Build a Fire”, where the protagonist is at the mercy of the environment. Even with his knowledge of the environment, nature still has the final say. Similarly, in “The Cremation of Sam McGee”, the harsh weather conditions subdue Sam McGee. Nature, then, whether at sea or land is shown as being more powerful than everything else which exists. Such views, to a large extent, disregard the existence of a god in naturalism. This type of reasoning is in accordance with the period in which naturalism was born. Scientific thought and the advancement of biological study influenced naturalist writers in their literature, giving little or no room for religion.

Though emphasis is put on nature in Naturalism, humans within nature still have a significant role in this literary movement. Characterisation in naturalistic literature usually sees characters in strife with nature. In some cases, this conflict symbolises inner conflict in a character. Although certain in beginning, the protagonist’s growing concern for his livelihood through his journey in “To Build a Fire” shows his inner conflict in following reason or his freewill-his will to go meet his friends or reason that clearly shows that travelling through this cold weather is not practical.  Freewill, thus, becomes another important feature in Naturalistic literature.

Freewill is demonstrated as an exercise in futility by most naturalistic writers. The use of freewill by characters in Naturalism often results in their demise. The protagonist’s decision to travel on a cold morning to meet his friends despite the risks in “To Build a Fire”, shows him exercising his freewill. Through nature, however, his decision to travel is shown as being a naïve one. The protagonist attributes his failure to misfortune. In “The Cremation of Sam McGee” Sam also decides to travel in a cold and harsh environment despite being from Tennessee and not having adequate knowledge about the environment further north. The presence of freewill, again, here leads to the demise of a character. Naturalism hence portrays freewill as impractical and, arguably, as an illusion. Humans are better off if they do not make use of it as they are not necessarily in control of their lives when in the presence of nature.

If freewill is not the answer then what is? Naturalistic texts present characters that are governed by their instincts. This is directly connected to the survival theme commonly found in naturalistic literature. Although the two main characters from the referenced texts both exercise freewill, it is also shown how they use their instincts in their struggle to survive. The protagonist in “To Build a Fire” instinctively knows that he has to get warm after getting wet. He does this by building a fire. Sam, on the other hand, wants to be cremated once he realizes that he will die from the cold weather. This request to be cremated can be seen as an instinctive and symbolic one as his cremation will be the final chance for him to get warm. His request reveals that our instinct is get warm when cold, even after we have died.

In final analysis, the plight of the protagonists in both texts is narrated in a realistic manner and nature is illustrated as an untamable force that directly affects everyone. The instinctive nature of characters in Naturalistic literature further reveals how Darwinism influenced this literary movement. In accordance with Darwinism, humans in both texts are viewed as evolved beasts that still need to rely on instincts in order to survive. Using freewill, instead, leads to their demise. With this, both “To build a Fire” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee” can be realized as naturalistic texts.

B.Pascal Zwane

Works Cited

• Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed. Fort Worth: Earl McPeek Publishers, 1999. Print.
• Campbell, Donna M. “Naturalism in American Literature”.  Literary Movements. Department of English, Washington State University. 04 July 2013. Web. 20 December 2013. http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/natural.htm
• London, Jack.  The Cremation of Sam McGee. The World of Jack London – Jack London Stories of the North. Youth’s Companion, 29 May 1902. Web. 19 December 2013. http://www.jacklondons.net/buildafire.html
• Service, Robert. “To Build a Fire”. The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses. New York: Barse & Hopkins Publishers, 1907. Poem of the Week. Web. 19 December 2013. http://www.potw.org/archive/potw22.html