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

Author: Mao Ronggui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
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, dropped out of school at the age of fourteen, and 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 worked 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, telling the story of its transformation from wolf to dog. This dog lives with humans, experiencing three different life stages, and shows its journey of humanization. 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 ruffian Smith, its cynical personality deepens. Under Smith's abuse and surveillance, it becomes a deadly "war wolf." After a bloody and near-fatal dogfight, the new owner, Weedon Scott, saves it. Under the taming of a kind and benevolent master, the dog overcomes its wildness and becomes the master's loyal pet. In the end, it bites and kills the master's enemy, saving the lives of the entire family. The novel ends comically, with the dog finding a happy family. In this novel, animals possess human qualities, and the author reflects the hypocrisy of human relationships in capitalist society through conflicts between animals.