Final answer:
The subject of the student's question is the complex relationship between characters and their aversion to the outdoors in various literary excerpts. These characters experience a range of emotions and behaviors in response to the environments they inhabit, informed by psychological states and physical challenges such as harsh weather conditions and isolation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is examining various characters and their interactions with the environment in different literary works, questioning how these characters relate to their surroundings and the challenges they face therein. Based on information provided, it seems that these characters, including Flynn, Venters, and others described in the excerpts, experience a range of emotional and physical responses to the natural world.
These responses are shaped by factors such as idleness, loneliness, a sense of exile, superstitious beliefs, and extreme cold. Each character's aversion to the outdoors or particular settings is rooted in complex personal experiences and psychological states which can include profound melancholy, enforced isolation, and the impositions of harsh environmental conditions, such as extreme cold and the feeling of not belonging.
For instance, the excerpt mentioning Flynn's dislike of the outdoors during winter highlights a sense of loss and disconnection from a place that was once vibrant and lively. It describes desolate landscapes, wind 'cold as misery', and a glare from the sun that makes it hard to see.
Venters, another character, is described as changing because of his experiences, where the freeing nature of the open night skies is replaced by feelings of being an outcast longing for human connection. Moreover, the narrative around the man's struggle in the Yukon cold, with only a dog for company, underscores a battle against nature's deadliness, exemplified by the man falling through ice and his realisation of the threat of death from freezing.
All these elements contribute to a thematic exploration where characters are in contention or alienated from their environments, emphasizing themes of survival, identity, and the human condition in the face of nature's indifferent challenges.
These themes also align with keywords such as fluid intelligence, Flynn effect, and functional fixedness, although these are not explicitly discussed within the given text excerpts but may form part of a broader analysis of character intelligence and adaptability in response to environmental factors.