Nature vs. Common Experience Upon

¶ … NATURE vs. COMMON EXPERIENCE

Upon taking a glance over the eminent literary figures of 18th century one name that stands apart is of Samuel Johnson, he was an English critic, biographer, essayist, poet, and lexicographer. He once said, "Nothing can please many, and please long, but just representations of general nature"("Preface to Shakespeare," p. 210). By this Johnson means that no literature will endure the test of time except that which reveals and explores situations and characteristics that are recognizable, that most of us share, that are common to people across boundaries of time and (to some extent) place. In this simple yet insightful premise there's present a depth of knowledge that uncovers a subtle fact which influences people's mind as regard to literature whether it is perceptible or imperceptible. So whether one is cognizant of the fact or not people normally hold in high esteem and regard those literary works to which they can easily relate to in terms of circumstances, feelings, reactions, intellectually and experience wise. Thus as the churning goes on, there come and go many writers with innovative ideas and novel styles but on the long run only that literature survives and earns a place for itself in the category of immortal and masterpiece that is free of the boundaries of time, place and situation as far as narrow frame is concerned but is broad enough to absorb large canvass of life in general in which there is something for everyone whether it is good or bad is a different matter altogether because that is how the life is with pros and cons but certainly something for everyone. Now we will try to assess the validity of this premise in the context of two short stories both of course of well-known and regarded authors and see how the works can be categorized in terms of Johnson's view point.

The first story 'To Build a Fire' by Jack London is a good example of "just representation of general nature." This is a story about a journey that a man undertook despite being warned of the difficulties by a local sage on the account of extreme cold but the man undermined the forces of nature and chose to continue his lonely trail "But all this -- the mysterious, far-reaching hair-line trail, the absence of sun from the sky, the tremendous cold, and the strangeness and weirdness of it all -- made no impression on the man." The man thought he could rely on his capabilities and knowledge and counted them sufficient enough to take him through the journey, he thought "Fifty degrees below zero stood for a bite of frost that hurt and that must be guarded against by the use of mittens, ear-flaps, warm moccasins, and thick socks." On the way he met a dog that had learned the nature's path not on the same level as acquired by the man but its understanding of nature was perhaps more sophisticated and applied. The dog wanted man to realize the proper impact of the situation and act accordingly that was to light the fire and conserve energy instead of carrying on with the journey "The dog had learned fire, and it wanted fire, or else to burrow under the snow and cuddle its warmth away from the air." As the man continued with the journey he did not want to give credit and acknowledge but nature was in full swing against him "Once in a while the thought reiterated itself that it was very cold and that he had never experienced such cold." Then after facing a lot of weather's extremities he decided to warm himself and relax by fire, the dog also sighed the breath of relief "The dog took satisfaction in the fire, stretching out close enough for warmth and far enough away to escape being singed." But he did not stayed longer and started on with his journey the animal hesitantly followed him knowing the man was in for a big trouble with that, as he was traveling the harsh weather also began making its mark on the man's body but he wanted to ignore it and in his heart he was also terming the people who tried to stop him from the journey as weak and not brave enough to undertake such adventure "Any man who was a man could travel alone." With the passage of time and journey man realized that he was fighting a losing battle against the nature and admitted the sage's saying "Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was right." As one starts reading the story the reader dislikes the man's arrogance and sheer disrespect for nature but also hope for the safe journey of the person and also appreciate the dog's rational behavior that it showed throughout, the ultimate result of the story is same that would have happened to any person with severe disregard for nature in such situation.