巴克在_野性的呼唤_中的双重身份_英文_

[作者简介]段晓利,北京科技大学外国语学院硕士研究生,研究方向:英美文学。

Buck s Double Identity i n Call of the W ild

D uan X iaoli

(Universit y of S cience and T echnology B eijing,B eijing 100083)

[A bstract] Ca ll of the W il d,the dog Buck has a double i den tity :on t he one hand

,he is a dog t hat rem inds us o f the pr i m itive beast h i dden i n hu m an s heart and on the o t her hand ,he is a hero serv i ng as a symbo l o f all li v i ng creatures tha t have to obey d iffe rent l aw s i n d ifferent env i ron m ents .

[K ey words] doub le i dentity ;pr i m itive ;beast

[中图分类号]I106 4 [文献标识码]A [文章编号]1672 8610(2006)12 0040 04 The ro le of Buck in Call of the W ild has been va riousl y elaborated by m any critics .It is t h rough such

an i m age of hum an dog that Jack London has h i s t h e m e of natura lis m expressed .So m e critics li k e G air and Rees m an treat Buck as an anthropo mo r ph ic exa m ple of si m ilar qualiti e s for a ll o f hu m ank i n d .Other crit ics li k e Lundqu ist and Nuernber g adopt such ter m s as beast fable or allegory to exp lai n Buck .H owev er ,the techn ical representati o n of an ani m a l centered consc i o usness and the rhe torica l effects of such a center are m ore co m p licated than what these ter m s generall y sugges.t A ctua lly ,Buck is endo w ed w ith personalities of a dog her o .On the one hand ,Buck is a pow erful and m ysterious dog t h at serves as a co m parison and contrast to hum an beings ,re m i n d i n g us o f the pr i m itive beast h i d den i n hu m an s hear,t and on the other hand,Buck is a hero serv i n g as a sy mbo l o f a ll liv i n g creat u res that have to observe d ifferent la w s i n different env iron m ents .

A s the poe m at the beg i n n i n g of the novel says :

O l d long i n gs no m ad i c leap ,Cha fi n g at custo m s cha i n ;Aga i n fro m its brum al sleep

W akens t h e feri n e stra i n .(Jack London ,1992,3)

The four li n e poe m here su mm arizes the essential

the m e of natura lis m i n the entire nove:l w ithin every i n d i v i d ua,l no m a tter ho w c i v ilized he is ,there li e s

deep w ith i n h i m a feri n e stra i n (3,ch .1).That is to say ,there is a pri m itive beast w ithin each of us wh ich can e m erge at any particular m o m en,t partic u larly in periods of extre m e stress .The brum a l sleep i n the poe m refers to t h ese forces that are h i b er nating and w ill a w aken and assum e their bestial qua lities at the proper m o m en.t Reading these four li n es ,w e ex pect a her o ,or a hum an at least i n the nove l to illus trate the the m e .H o w ever ,it is Buck w ho appears as an a m biguousm i x ture o f hum an and dog .The i m age o f the dog i s associated w it h so m e qualities of m an fro m the beg i n n i n g of the sto r y : Buck did not read the ne w spapers ,or he w ou l d have kno w n that trouble w as bre w i n g (3,ch .1).Th is is certai n ly a strange w ay to i n troduce a dog hero ,m ak i n g Buck s (not)reading see m a m atter of pre ference ,ra t h er than possi b ility (u sing did i n stead o f cou l d ).Be fore it is clearly fixed that his pro tagon ist is an an i m a,l London s little j o ke here is to m ake us i m ag i n e the act o f read i n g ,and then i m m ediate ly negate it by e m body i n g t h e reader as a dog .These descriptions attri b ute hum an qualities to Buck and refer to a ll liv i n g creatures together to ob scure disti n ctions bet w een hum an and an i m a ls .Th is m akes it d ifficult for readers to decide Buck s i d enti

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ty.

M oreover,London s verbs attribute a list o fm en tal actions to Buc k:Buck i m ag i n es , dec i d es , rea lizes , kno w s , d i v i n es , w onders ,and so on,over and aga i n st London s ver b phrases d i m ly a w are (5,ch.1)and fee ls vague ly .These verbs are cr uc i a l to the reader s being ab le to i d entify w ith Buck as a th i n k i n g presence who is on occasi o n disturbed by drea m s and m e m o ri e s,as w hen the scene o f Curl y s death returns to tr ouble h is sleep(31,ch.4),or w hen he stares into a fire and thought of Judge M ill er s b i g house (31,ch.4)and then rev i e w s other scenes o f h is recent pas.t In th is sense,Buck is a her o w ho has the ability to th i n k,to i m agine,and to fee.l There are really t w o plots driv i n g Buck:one is at av is m or retr ogressing as dog character in w hich he gradually recovers the long buried and forgotten pr i m i ti v e insti n cts and m e mo ries that h is w ild ancestors pos sessed;the other is the lear n i n g process to obta i n expe rience as a hero character,w hich has to do w ith va l u es rather than i n sti n cts.In the fo llo w i n g plo,t Buck m ust learn to be w il d.A tta i n i n g w ildness enta ils d isc i p li n ed educati o n.Buck m ust adapt hi m se lf to the bleak and cr ue l v isi o n of ani m a l ex istence as he rea lizes t h at the m ora l concerns o f hum an c i v ilizati o n have no place in t h e k ill or to be k illed world o f the w il d.Traditi o na ll y, t h e naturalist plot of decli n e depends on so m e clear de m arcation bet w een nature and culture,ho w everm uch a conti n uu m ex ists bet w een the m.W ithou t th is d i s ti n c ti o n,no li n ear p l o tti n g can m ake such sense.London tries to keep the t w o d isti n ct yet li n ked by three m edia ti o ns,w hich are all centered on the vague no tion of the pri m iti v e :the la w of club and fang (10,ch.2); t h e represen tations of Buck s i n her ited rac ial m e mo r y duri n g wh ich the dog reverts to a savage state of attend ance on ha iry m asters(57,c h.7);and the curi o us i n troduction at a key juncture late i n t h e narrative o f a tribe o f Indians,the Y eehats,who presu m ably operate so m e where bet w een Buck s world and Thornton s w orld.A lthough itm ight be ar gued t h at bo t h club and fang see m to establish do m inance,London carefull y i n sists that the m an in the red s w eater beats Buck to gain obedience,not conciliation.And the m an i n the red s w eater re m i n ds readers of the beast qua lity of hu m an beings.

Tak i n g stock of h is hero at one po i n t during h is narration,London hi m se lf n ice l y captures th is doub le ness as a dog and a hum an: h is deve l o p m ent(or ret rogressi o n)was rap i d (16,ch.2).Try i n g to have it bo th w ays and still avo i d co mm it m ent(by usi n g or rather than and ),this asserti o n follo w s close on a m ore ex tended b it of co mm entary:

This first theft(of a slice of bacon)m arked Buck as fit to surv ive in the hostile Northland env ironm en.t It m ar ked h is adaptability,h is capacity to ad j u st h i m se lf to chang ing cond itions.Itm arked,further,the de cay or go i n g to pieces of h ism ora l na t u re,a va i n thing and a handicap in t h e r uth less str ugg le for ex istence.

Not that Buck reasoned it ou.t H e w as fi,t that w as al,l and unconsciously he acco mm odated h i m self to the ne w m ode of life(16,ch.2).

Unlike a typ i c al character in a realist novel w ho possesses a high ly developed m ora l nature subject o f decay,Buck is a dog fro m the star;t London s fi x ation on m orality i m m ed iate l y tri g gers h i s anx iety about Buck s reason i n g.Prec isely w hen m ora l considerations are intr oduced,London fee ls co m pe lled to reg ister so m e sharp disti n ction bet w een beasts and m en wh ile he goes on to i n sist t h at civilized Buck cou l d have d i e d for a m ora l considerati o n,say the defence o f Judge M iller s ridi n g wh i p (16,ch.2).That Buck beg i n s c i v ilized life under a j u dge is no co i n ci dence,since it i s t h e j u dge s m o ral considerati o n , no t the dog s that would presu m ably m oti v ate the ani m al s defense o f t h e wh i p a piece o f his m aster s private pr operty and a sleeker versi o n o f the c l u b that d isc i p li n ed Buck i n the w ild.

London m akes h is her o a dog because if Buck w ere am an there would have to be so m e k i n d of et h ica l responsi b ility (H o w ard,1985,106).The decay o f h is m ora lnature can thus be tossed asi d e w ithout the reader s l o si n g respect for Buck.But London is ob sessed w ith his dog her o s m oral nat u re and the ques tion o f j u stice (9,ch.1).It is precise l y Buck s sense of va l u e especia ll y h is o wn worth i n the eyes o f o t h ers thatw i n s our respec.t The e m o ti o ns Buck expe riences i n the opening scenes are stri k i n g: a fine pri d e in h i m self r u li n g over the judge s ranch as a

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sated aristocrat (4,ch.1); rage once his qu iet dign ity (5,ch.1)is repeated l y affronted by h is cap to rs; obey i n g the l a w o f the cl u b(obedience explic itly d istingu ished fro m concili a ti o n );feeli n g a sha m ed (anger tur ned i n w ard by others d isapproval) w hen on l o okers (6,ch.1)laugh at hi m; hatred (10,ch.1)of h is i m m ed iately recogn ized rival Sp itz. Pri d e,d i g nity,anger,obedience,sha m e,and hatred cu l m i n ate i n i m agina ti o n, a qua lity that m ade for great n ess (27,c h.3),w hich fi n ally allo w s Buck, perversely enough,to k ill h is dreaded riva.l

An i m a lsm ay have a l o g ic of feelings (Ro m an es,1897,71),but these e m o ti o ns are no t necessarily structured by a coherent narrati v e lead i n g to self fulfill m en.t Buck s character develops a l o ng the li n es of a trad iti o na l nineteenth century b il d ung sr o m an,in wh ich i d entity is a process of beco m i n g v ia m ora l education. Co m pared to such figures as the red m an and M anue,l Buck is not on ly s m arter but has a clearer sense of ri g ht and w rong,and is m ore hu m an.Learning his m any lessons ,kno w i n g h is proper place,d isc i p li n i n g h i s body,and strugg li n g for approva,l Buck fu lfills a h igh er calli n g.Th is ca lli n g has less to do w ith the w ild t h an w ith the d i g n ity of labor.Call of the W il d thus strictly fo ll o w s the d ictates o f the b ildungsro m an p l o:t transfor m i n g nat u re by w ork leads to se lf transfo r m a ti o n,l e ads up fro m slaver y to freedo m.For Buck, w ork i n itially beco m es the source for i d entity,the m eans to m ake a na m e for hi m se l.f Functi o ning as a path to se lf transcendence,labor i n London s narrative t h us carries enor m ous philosophical i m port H ege lian i m por,t to be m ore spec ific.

Dog recogn ition,no t dog cognition,beco m es the centra l issue i n the narrati v e,i n ter m s of ho w Buck i s eva l u ated by hu m ans,then by the dogs,and m ost proble m atically by h is ado red m aster,John Thornton.

I n itially valued strictly for h is potentia l for w or k(size, streng th,and fer oc ity),Buck s worth is m easured i n m oney i n the m arketp lace(as is tr ue in m any slave narrati v es),and by other m eans o f rational ca lcula ti o n: One i n ten t ousand, his ne w owner Perrau lt co mm ents m entally dur i n g the m o m ent of exchange (9,ch.1).Once Buck enters i n to social relati o ns w ith his sled m ates also the precise m o m en t he enters i n to w or k h is w orth takes on a ne w m ean i n g.A s Lon don i n troduces h is cre w of dogs,he g ives each of the m a disti n ct persona lity i n trospective,appeasing,fair, w ise,lazy,and so on lar ge l y i n relation to ho w Buck va l u es the m and ho w they value Buck.M ore to the po in,t perhaps,these eva l u ations beco m e inti m a tely linked to Buck s calli n g, h is lear n i n g to pull the sled w ith h ism ates.The ability of So l leks,for exa m ple,to co mm and respect is li m ited by h is lack o f apparen t a m biti o n, until Buc k later sees h i m at w or k w ith h is partner Dave and learns to va l u e t h e ir even m ore vita l a m b ition .Like the t w o ne w k i n d o f m en driv i n g the m,Dave and So l leks on the j o b sud denly beco m e ne w dogs,utterly transfor m ed by the har ness.A ll passi v eness and unconcern had dropped fr o m the m.The to il o f the traces see m ed the supre m e expression of their being,and all that they li v ed for and the only thing i n w hich they took deli g ht (14, ch.2).

W hen London tries to g ive this self transcendence v ia labor a Dar w i n ian slan,t the resu lts are pecu liar. As w hat is expressed in the fa m ous ecstasy passage tha tLondon i n serts right be f o re he has Buck k ill Spitz: There i s an ecstasy t h atm arks the summ it o f life, and beyond wh ich life cannot r i s e.And such is the paradox of liv i n g,t h is ecstasy co m es w hen one is most ali v e,and it co m es as a co m plete forgetfulness that one i s a li v e.This ecstasy,this f o r getfulness o f li v i n g, co m es to the artis,t caught up and out o f hi m se lf i n a sheet of fla m e;it co m es to the so ldier,w ar m ad on a stricken field and refusi n g quarter;and it ca m e to Buck,l e ad i n g the pack,sound i n g the o ld w o lf cry, straini n g a fter the food(a rabbit)that w as alive and tha t fled s w iftly before hi m through the m oonli g h.t H e w as sound i n g t h e deeps o f h is nature,and t h e parts o f h is nature that w ere deeper than he,go i n g back into the W o mb o fT i m e(25,ch.3).

Buck s a mb iti o n to lead t h e pack,other w ise al w ays expressed i n ter m s o fw ork,is suddenly m an ifes ted as hunti n g a w il d rabbit i n the heat o f t h e k il.l London m atches this pri m al th irst for blood by m ov ing spatially i n w ard( deeps )and te m pora ll y backw ar d ( W o m b of T i m e ),so that transcendence can be converted i n to,or repressed,as i n sti n ct the deeps

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of his nature.

During the nove l s conc l u d i n g w ish fu lfill m ent of per m anent ce lebrity,London tr i e s to sustain m ora l ten si o n i n h is narration by representing Buck as a torn personality bet w een h is alleg iance to h i s ado red hum an m aster and his i n creasi n g k i n sh i p for his w ild w o lf br o ther (76,85).Bu t this gro w i n g dile mm a w ithin Buck bet w een devo ted do m esticity and w ild restless ness (76)is conven iently cut short by the sudden i n troduction o f a band o f I ndians the Yeehats who render t h e questi o n of the dog her o s m oral cho ice rather m oo.t

Look i n g t h rough t h e w ho le nove,l it is not d ifficu lt to fi n d that Jack London s Call of the W ild is based upon a ques.t The story of Buck and h is adventures, his transfor m ati o n fr o m a ranch pet to a m agnificent dog of the w il d er ness,is h i s quest to ans w er the call of the w ild.I n a si m ilar m anner,each o f his m asters in the Yukon is also on a ques,t w hich is one for go ld.Fran co is and Perrau lt are i n the K l o ndike to m ake a liv i n g for the m selves;Charles,H a,l and M ercedes are greedy,seek i n g to get wealthy fr o m t h e go ld.Tho r nton goes a fter go ld for a sense o f adventure;he w an ts to go w here no other m an has gone and retur ned.H e l o ves t h e na t u ra lw orl d,as Buck does,and understands the call o f t h e w il d.I n this sense,Buck and hum an be i n gs are para lleled.

In su mm ary,Buck is ne ither m ere l y an enor m ous,extraord i n arily po w erful dog i n an adventure no vel nor m ere l y an anthropo m o r ph ic exa m ple of si m ilar qualities fo r a ll of hum ank i n d,although thr oughout the nove,l Buck is seen to possess various types of quali ties i n cluding loya lty,love,revenge,a m bition and cunning that are traditi o na ll y a ttri b uted on l y to hum an beings.Buck has a doub le i d entity of dog hero w hich all o w s h i m to observe the w orl d both fro m hum an s perspecti v e and dog s po i n t o f v ie w.In th i s w ay,the the m e o f the novel is broadened and the nove l beco m es m ore pr o found i n touch i n g t h e inner world of basic na ture of hum ans.

R eferences

[1] G a ir,Christ opher.Co mp licity and R esistance i n Jack Lon

don s N ovels[M].N ew Y o rk:T he Ed w i n M e llen P ress,

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[2] R ees m an,Jeanne Campbe l.l Jack London:A S tudy of the

Short F iction[M].N ew Y ork:Twayne P ublishers,1999.

[3] L undqu i st,Ja m es.Jack L ondon:Adventures,Ideas and

F icti on[M].N e w Y ork:U ngar,1987.

[4] Nuernberg,Susan M.,ed.The Cr itical Response to Jack

L ondon[C].L ondon:G reen w ood P ress,1995.

[5] L ondon,Jack.Call of t he W ild[M].H ertfordsh i re:

W ords w orth C l assics,1992.

[6] H oward,June.Form and H is t ory in Am erican L iterary

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[7] Rom anes,G eo rge.E ssay s[M].London:L ong m ans,

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巴克在 野性的呼唤 中的双重身份

段晓利

(北京科技大学外国语学院,北京 100083)

[摘 要] 在 野性的呼唤 中,巴克拥有双重身份:一方面,作为一只狗,提醒人类内心深处隐藏着的原始

的野性,另一方面,他又有人的特质,作为所有生物的标志,象征着生物在不同的环境必须要遵循不同的生物规则。

[关键词] 双重身份;原始的;野性

英文校对 H e Yi

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