The story “The White Heron” has a benevolent view of nature and its interactions with humanity, as opposed to “The Law of Life” by Jack London. That particular story conveys a message of inevitable death and a merciless nature that requires complete obedience and can only promise one thing to an individual. That they will meet their impending doom, though no one can say where or when. Here we will compare and contrast a multitude of different motifs and underlying themes, including the opposition of nature to humanity, the protagonists' interactions with nature, and the role of the antagonists, natural or otherwise. does the reader believe that nature acts towards man? As much as humanity seems to idolize and romanticize nature, sooner or later we must realize our naivety and recognize nature as a wild and lethal force independent of man. The truth is that nature has no more regard for man than we might have for a particularly annoying insect. According to Jack London, Nature demands perfection and everything inferior deserves death. However, in “The White Heron,” nature is benevolent and peaceful, and you can clearly see the abandonment of the Puritans' past ways and a clear transition to a blend of romance and naturalism that form a cohesive and entertaining tale. Nature and its interactions with people are drastically different in the two stories, leading to two very different protagonists. For example, in White Heron, the protagonist is a little girl called Sylvia who grows in her understanding of the world. As she learns more about herself and matures, she realizes that the world is not always as rosy as she thought, and that if she wants something badly and... middle of paper... happily, while the old comes happily devoured by a pack of (no longer) hungry wolves. Which do you think has the most realistic outcome regarding human nature and nature itself? If you, the reader, were to choose the ending of White Heron, in which a young, impressionable girl loses her chance to get a significant amount of money from a boy she was infatuated with, the author has to tell you one of two things. Either a hopeless idealist drowning in his own naivety, or an idiot. Nature is a force that can be vindictive, malevolent, and cruel beyond belief. Of course, it is as bipolar as it is majestic and can be filled with many of the resources needed to survive. In “The Law of Life”, Nature itself is an antagonist, while in “The White Heron” it is a loving friend. Whatever you believe, nature is certainly not a force to be trifled with.