Civilization and Barbarism

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at how the true nature of man, one of barbarism, is depicted in three works: Jack London's "To Build a Fire", Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery". More specifically, the paper describes how the traveler challenges nature in Jack London's "To Build a Fire" and how Tom and Huck run of with a group of friends to become a barbarous, bloodthirsty gang of thieves in Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn". The paper also describes the population's barbarous nature with their need for the lottery in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery". The paper shows how these three authors all highlight how the modern world is never far from its barbarous past, no matter how civilized human beings pretend to be.

From the Paper:

"The path that modern people walk, across the balanced precipice between civilized and barbarous is frequently fictionalized. For many authors and readers alike the need to remind one's self of the precarious nature of the human condition comes as a reminder of older wisdom, that of the barbarian and newer realities, those of the modern world. Modern man, by most accounts is simply balancing the fact that he or she is a barbarous animal living within the confines of modern conveniences."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Hague, Angela. ""A Faithful Anatomy of Our Times": Reassessing Shirley Jackson." Frontiers - A Journal of Women's Studies 26.2 (2005): 73.
• Jackson, Shirley The Lottery. Retrieved October 15 2007 from: http://fiction.eserver.org/short/the_lottery.html
• Kravits, Bennett. "Reinventing the World and Reinventing the Self in Huck Finn." Papers on Language & Literature 40.1 (2004): 3.
• London, Jack To Build a Fire. Retrieved October 15 2007 from: http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Jack_London/To_Build_a_Fire/To_Build_a_Fire_p1.html
• McClintock, James I. Jack London's Strong Truths. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1997.

More papers on Civilization and Barbarism:

• Term Paper # 140678 : "Civilization and Barbarism"
• Comparison Essay # 45724 : "Male Heroism and Female Power in Mythology"
• Book Review # 111489 : "Herodotus and his Examination of Barbarian Customs"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: