Jack London
By: Miguel Hernandez
Thesis
Throughout his famous novels, Jack London
emphasized ‘Evolution’ and ‘Naturalism’ as
his dominant themes, along with his
personal experiences.
Jack London’s Life
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Jack London was born in San Francisco in 1876.
He had a mother (Flora Wellman) who took care of him and his
birth father (William Chaney) left the family.
Flora met another man named John London and got married. This
man became Jack’s step father.
As Jack grew up, he had to work to provide for his family. He
started working at the age of 8 and had different jobs as time went
on. Although he had many occupations, they were all low-paying.
He returned to school at the age of 19 since he had to drop out so
that he could complete his jobs.
Believe it or not, after graduating, Jack London showed interest in
government. He tried to run for the mayor of Oakland as a Socialist
candidate but failed to become mayor after several tries.
After this, he decided to become a writer and started writing
children’s books until he progressed his way to classic novels like
‘Call of the Wild’ and ‘White Fang’.
Jack London’s Life
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During his writing career, many philosophers influenced his writing,
like Charles Darwin, the man who first stated the theory of
Evolution.
Again, Charles Darwin along with Hippolyte Taine, influenced
London with another theory (theme) which was Naturalism as he
read their different books.
Along with these important people, his life experiences influenced
his writing greatly too. One experience in particular is The Klondike
Gold Rush.
As time went by, he went to explore different places, one of which
was Hawaii. It became a very famous tourist spot after London
visited the many islands.
He used his fame to spread his different beliefs like Socialism.
Sadly, he died in 1916 because of renal failure. In his entire writing
career, he wrote 51 novels and hundreds of different articles.
White Fang Summary
White Fang is a story of a wolf-dog that was influenced by the
environment to change from a wild wolf-dog into a tamed and
domesticated house dog. At first, he was born in the wild with his
mother by his side. His mother was a dog. The Native Indians took
White Fang and his mother and took care of them in exchange for
being their dog. As time went by with the Indians, White Fang and
his mother began to become separated and eventually forgot about
each other. When the Indians decided to go to Yukon, a man
named Beauty Smith began to like White Fang and took him to
become his fighter dog. He was then used to fight other dogs and
was critically injured after losing to another dog in a fight. There,
Beauty got rid of him and a man named Weedon Scott took care of
him. He treated White Fang like a special pet, and there, White
Fang experienced love for the first time. He drastically changed at
this point into a partially tamed dog. He went with Weedon Scott to
California and there he became a house pet. He adapted very well
to his surroundings and became like one of the regular dogs.
Because of Weedon’s influence in his life, he changed from a wild,
undomesticated wolf-dog into a humble, tamed house dog.
Author Analysis
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Very evident with Jack London’s novels is the
influence of Naturalism in the dogs’ lives. They
had to adapt to their surroundings as they
migrate in different locations. Along with that,
the experiences of living the North also
influenced them to change. Evolution also kicks
in where both dogs experience characters’
development from being wild to tamed or tamed
to wild.
Evolution
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Evolutions are the changes in characteristics of humans, animals,
and organisms from every generation.
Charles Darwin thought of the idea that apes were living in Earth
first. After generations passed, these apes transformed into men.
Jack London became interested in Evolution because of Charles
Darwin.
He read Darwin’s different books which gave him ideas to use
this as some of his book’s themes.
Evolution is seen in ‘Call of the Wild’ and ‘White Fang’.
In ‘Call of the Wild’, Buck remembers his ancestors as wolves
and in ‘White Fang’, there is the connection between dogs and
wolves.
According to scientific research, dog and wolves DO have a
connection. The dog is a direct descendent from the grey wolf.
This shows that the grey wolves have evolved to a more
domestic type of animal which is a dog.
Naturalism
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Literary ‘Naturalism’ states that heredity, environment, and outside
forces affect humanity.
In Jack London’s case, ‘Naturalism’ affects animals too.
Jack London was again influenced by Charles Darwin along with
Hippolyte Taine. Reading their writings influenced Jack to write
books with those themes.
Some examples were ‘Call of the Wild’ and ‘White Fang’.
In ‘Call of the Wild’, Buck was impacted by the environment, which
was the cold north, and heredity, which was his ancestors being
wolves. This transformed him from being a tamed dog to a wild
animal.
In ‘White Fang’, White Fang was impacted by the environment,
which was the switch from cold Yukon to warm California, and by
outside forces, which was meeting Weedon Scott. This transformed
him from a wild, wolf-dog into a disciplined house companion.
The Klondike Gold Rush
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In August 16, 1896, Yukon area Indians discovered gold in Rabbit Creek
which was near Dawson.
The word of riches spread slowly but when it did, many people began to
show up to Yukon for the riches.
When ships arrived at Seattle, it was filled with lots of gold that people
wanted.
Jack London became one of the people who wanted these riches so he
went along with the others.
Sled-dogs were a necessity so a lot of people bought dogs for high prices.
This hunt for gold ended in 1898
Jack London’s experience in the Klondike Gold Rush ties with his novels.
They influenced him to write different novels based on the gold rush.
‘Call of the Wild’ took place in the cold north where gold was found.
The setting of ‘White Fang’ also was in Yukon.
Buck in ‘Call of the Wild’ was sold so that he can be used for a sled dog.
White Fang was also used as a sled dog for the Indians.
Jack London’s sights and experiences are tied with these stories so there is
some realistic elements.
Conclusion
The dominant themes of Jack London’s
novels emphasize his beliefs in the theory
of Evolution, Naturalism and, a reflection
of his personal experiences as well.
Works Cited
~Alphonse, Marlene. "Naturalism in Literature." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent
Life on the Web. 26 Feb. 2010. Web. 25 May 2011.
<http://www.buzzle.com/articles/naturalism-in-literature.html>.
~Hampton, Paul. "Jack London, Socialist | Workers' Liberty." Workers' Liberty |
For International Working Class Solidarity and Socialism. N.d., 13 Aug. 2008.
Web. 25 May 2011.
<http://www.workersliberty.org/blogs/paulhampton/2008/08/13/jacklondon-socialist>.
~Matterson, Stephen. "The American Novel . Literary Timeline . Movements .
Naturalism | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 25 May 2011.
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/timeline/naturalism.html>.
~N.d. "Evolution of Dog." Evolution: PBS. Web. 25 May 2011.
<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/5/I_015_02.html>.
~N.d. "The Klondike Gold Rush." UW Libraries Digital Collections. Web. 25 May
2011. <http://content.lib.washington.edu/extras/goldrush.html>.
~Sciambra, Joseph. "THE PHILOSOPHY OF JACK LONDON." The Jack London
Online Collection. 25 Feb. 2004. Web. 25 May 2011.
<http://london.sonoma.edu/Essays/philosophy.html>.
~Stasz, Dr. Clarice. "Jack London: Biography." The Jack London Online
Collection. 19 Aug. 2001. Web. 25 May 2011.
<http://london.sonoma.edu/jackbio.html>.
~Wicks, Robert. "Friedrich Nietzsche (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)."
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 29 Apr. 2011. Web. 25 May 2011.
<http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nietzsche>.