White Teeth - Bedside Lamp English Learning Reader V (Pure English Version)

Author: Mao Ronggui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Jack London (1876—1916) had a rough early life. He was the illegitimate son of a traveling astrologer and was born in San Francisco, California. He grew up in the harsh coastal area of Oakland and dropped out of school at the age of fourteen. He once survived by stealing and selling oysters from San Francisco Bay. Later, he worked as a sailor, a vagrant, and attended the University of California. During the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897, he served as a prospector. White Fang is an animal-themed novel published in 1906. The author set the story in the cold Arctic regions of Canada and uses anthropomorphic techniques to describe a mixed-breed wolf-dog born in the wilderness. At a few months old, the mother wolf leads it from the wild world back into human life, transforming it from a wolf into a dog. This dog lives with humans, experiencing three different life stages and showcasing its journey of humanization. The life in the Indian camp makes the dog "eccentric and lonely, with a cruel and loveless nature, filled with hatred and hostility toward both animals and humans." After the Indian owner sells it to the white brute Smith, its cynical personality deepens. Suffering abuse and surveillance under Smith, it becomes a deadly "war wolf." After a bloody and near-fatal dogfight, the new owner, Weedon Scott, saves it. Under the kindness and gentleness of its benevolent master, the dog overcomes its wildness and becomes a loyal pet. In the end, it bites and kills the master's enemy, saving the lives of the entire family. The novel concludes with a comedic ending, as the dog finds a happy family. In this novel, animals possess human qualities, and the author reflects the hypocrisy and deceit in capitalist society through the conflicts between animals.