Earthquakes are a natural and intimidating experience; the violent shaking of the earth turns buildings to rubble, sends the populace into sheer panic, and transforms the terrain into an unfathomable pile of destruction. But for Jack London and Mark Twain, the experience of certain earthquakes yielded enlightenment about the people around them.To London, the earthquake brought great destruction and was the result of humankind’s own actions. However, Twain viewed the earthquake 's aftermath as revealing and humorous, and criticized the silly ways in which people reacted. In “The San Francisco Earthquake” by Jack London, London emphasizes the destruction in the aftermath and relates it back to the frail and damaging nature of man; in “The San
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The fact that one single earthquake can bring such complete destruction in such a short period of time exemplifies the power of nature and the frailness of mankind. London further highlights the city’s destruction by depicting that all that remains of his beloved city is “on the outskirts of what was once San Francisco.” By depriving the aftermath of any relation to the city that it once was only emphasizes the utter loss of the city. The fact that such a magnificent city can be destroyed to the point beyond recognition demands that Mother Nature has ultimate power over feeble mankind. London then transitions on to inform about how the destruction took place: “The streets were humped into ridges and depressions...The steel rails were twisted into perpendicular and horizontal angles…” The words “humped”, “perpendicular”, and “horizontal” describe how the city was destroyed rather than the aftermath. These verbs contain little emotion, but emphasis the disturbed state of the city, tieing back to the complete destruction the aftermath displayed. Furthermore, London only mentions the abnormal state of the “street” and “street rails”, which are man made structures. London emphasizes the unnatural state of these man made structures resulted by the earthquake to …show more content…
However, while London’s experience taught him the danger of humans versus nature, Twain’s experience led him to criticize the lack of sense during a crisis. Even though their experiences differed, both London and Twain evaluated the way people relate to a
The fact that one single earthquake can bring such complete destruction in such a short period of time exemplifies the power of nature and the frailness of mankind. London further highlights the city’s destruction by depicting that all that remains of his beloved city is “on the outskirts of what was once San Francisco.” By depriving the aftermath of any relation to the city that it once was only emphasizes the utter loss of the city. The fact that such a magnificent city can be destroyed to the point beyond recognition demands that Mother Nature has ultimate power over feeble mankind. London then transitions on to inform about how the destruction took place: “The streets were humped into ridges and depressions...The steel rails were twisted into perpendicular and horizontal angles…” The words “humped”, “perpendicular”, and “horizontal” describe how the city was destroyed rather than the aftermath. These verbs contain little emotion, but emphasis the disturbed state of the city, tieing back to the complete destruction the aftermath displayed. Furthermore, London only mentions the abnormal state of the “street” and “street rails”, which are man made structures. London emphasizes the unnatural state of these man made structures resulted by the earthquake to …show more content…
However, while London’s experience taught him the danger of humans versus nature, Twain’s experience led him to criticize the lack of sense during a crisis. Even though their experiences differed, both London and Twain evaluated the way people relate to a