Henry David Thoreau writes about a shipwreck in Cape Cod in the first chapter which is titled The Shipwreck. He is successful in describing nature which is magnificent yet hostile towards humans. This nature is awe-striking and causes people to feel the grandeur of its power. The nature is much different than from the domesticated one in Concord especially because of the ocean which is a true force of nature. Many ships sink in this place, but people are not so surprised or horrified by this because the natural forces are the ones which prevail and towards which a human has to adapt.
There is a link between human and natural in The Shipwreck which is described by the visitors to this place called Cape Cod and the writer is the witness of the shipwreck of the boat St. John. Many people lost their lives in this event, but it is considered to be only natural and not so tragic. Such a disaster is not a tragedy since people are used to it and the passengers are aware of all the dangers of the ocean once they set their foot on board of a ship. Thoreau describes that: “In a little cove, within half a mile, there were an old man and his son collecting, with their team, the sea-weed which that fatal storm had cast up, as serenely employed as if there had never been a wreck in the world” (Thoreau). It is evident that people have bonded with nature in such a way which makes them used to the disasters happening. It seems that they lost their sense of empathy, but the truth is that they only accepted the supremacy of nature in this place which is hostile for fragile beings like people.
Thoreau continues to describe the nature in such a way which suggests that the wilderness should be accepted as it is and that it should be admired. There is also a scientific approach to examining Cape Cod and it is a fact that people living in this area became used to anything happening. Funerals are not unusual in this place and it is not uncommon to see clothes along the shore which creates a contrast with nature. Thoreau says: “I saw that the beauty of the shore itself was wrecked for many a lonely walker there, until he could perceive, at last, how its beauty was enhanced by wrecks like this, and it acquired thus a rarer and sublimer beauty still” (Thoreau). This means that nature is beautiful even though it can destroy a person’s life in a second. People accept that as a fact and the power and strength of nature is what fascinates them. There is something interesting about this wilderness and it is related to the fact that everything is restored to the usual condition very quickly. “The ocean did not look, now, as if any were ever shipwrecked in it; it was not grand and sub-lime, but beautiful as a lake” (Thoreau). It is fascinating that nature shows such liveliness and the power of rejuvenation. People have to be fascinated by this powerful force which cannot be stopped or influenced.
Jack London writes also about wilderness and the Yukon Trail where the plot is set around a man and his dog. It is so cold that it is impossible to survive especially for a human being. This is similar to Thoreau’s description of nature. London writes: “The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice” (London 64). In the end the man dies which is also similar to Thoreau’s perception of wilderness. Both of the writers describe the nature which is ruthless and at the same time fascinating.
Works Cited
Thoreau, Henry D. Cape Cod. N.p.: The Project Gutenberg, 2010. N. pag. Web. 29 Jan. 2016. <http://www.gutenberg.org/files/34392/34392-h/34392-h.htm#I>.
London, Jack. To Build a Fire and Other Stories (Bantam Classics). New York: Bantam Classics, 1986. 64-79. Print.
