The Call Of Jack London
During a time when man had gold fever, and
philosophical views plagued the minds of many, one man took
these views and turned them into great outdoor adventures.
John “Jack” Griffith London, a twentieth century author,
wrote The Call of the Wild, other novels, and short stories
that depict the philosophical views of the time and added
adventure to them by using his own life experiences that
carried thousands of men including himself to the Klondike
in search of gold.
In Winter 1876 San Francisco John and Flora London
shared the joy of childbirth in the celebration of their
only child together. They named the baby boy John Griffith
London, or Jack for short. He became the twelfth child of
his father, for through his first marriage he had eleven
children. Jack London’s family was stricken by poverty.
His father had many trades, however worked mainly in truck
gardening(McCracken 370). After Jack’s graduation from
grammar school, which he attended in Oakland, Jack read many
novels, mainly ones about romance, travel, and adventure.
He took many odd jobs to make ends meet(Comptons Interactive
Encyclopedia).
Jack had ambitions for a life at sea. At age fifteen
Jack London bought a boat of his own, called Razzle Dazzle.
He became an oyster pirate, sailing the San Francisco Bay
robbing oyster beds and becoming a heavy drinker. Jack had
many hard times. He spent some time as a hobo and spent
some time in prison. At the age of nineteen he entered high
school. Hard work enabled him the privilege of attending
The University of California at Berkley. Less than a year
passed and he gave up school to try and support his family
and persue a writing career. He did not sell any of his
work(Kunitz and Haycraft 844).
He joined the gold rush to the Klondike in the summer
of 1897. The group stopped along the Yukon near about the
Stewert River for winter. London became vary ill with
Scurvy and was forced south for survival. Upon his re entry
to San Francisco Jack learned of his fathers death. He
could not find work of any kind, so once again he tried his
hand at writing. His first writing, a story about life on
the Yukon, was accepted by a magazine called Overlan...
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...ty. This is
illustrated in a quote from the book, “His cunning was wolf
cunning...his intelligence, shepherd intelligence and St.
Bernard intelligence.”(London) “London’s unusual subject
allows him to see virtues in return to an aboriginal state
that could not be found if humans were the subject.”(Magill
1148) He also uses the literary element of contrast to
bring effect to his novel. For instance when “Buck is at
his most savage he is also most completely fulfilling his
potential utulizing his brain, muscles, and heart to the
utmost.”(Magill 1148)
Jack London had a life full of ups and downs . He used
ideas of philosophy that affected the world to inspire all
of his writings as well as the ideas of his own experiences
and of the great adventures celebrated in the age of time.
He used ideas of Charles Darwin, racial hierarchy, and the
American Credo of success to inspire his writings. Once he
tried to make it to Alaska himself, so he was able to use
some of what he experienced to add realistic adventure to
his stories. All elements of his life and his era helped
make him one of the greatest adventure writers of the
generations.
Do you ever hear of nature fakers? Well, if not, a nature faker is an author that gives animals, from the wild, human characteristics and personifies them. In Jack London’s novel, The Call of the Wild, he writes about an extremely tough and confident dog, named Buck, who thrives in nature. For his writing in The Call of the Wild, many people accuse Jack London of being a nature faker. Nonetheless, Jack London is a magnificent, talented writer who carries a significant amount of knowledge about the wild and therefore isn’t a nature faker.
When he was fifteen years old, his mother died from appendicitis. From fifteen years of age to his college years, he lived in an all-white neighborhood. From 1914-1917, he shifted from many colleges and academic courses of study as well as he changed his cultural identity growing up. He studied physical education, agriculture, and literature at a total of six colleges and universities from Wisconsin to New York. Although he never completed a degree, his educational pursuits laid the foundation for his writing career.
The novella The Call of the Wild is a story of Buck overcoming challenges while being thrown into the real world and learning new traits like persistence and resilience. Protagonist Buck is a colossal St Bernards cross Scotch shepherd dog, transforms from a humble house dog and then eventually returns to a primordial state as a best of the wild. Along the way he is faced with an endless array of challenges. London achieves this by portraying Buck’s change in character in a manner that explores and incorporates diverse motifs.
Through all of his courage, he found what he was looking for. He dug deep and went to the extremes that were not normal to himself. All of his work leads to his dynamic characteristics.
He didn't have a very exciting life when he was younger but he did grow up sailing on short trips on the English coast. Since a young age he knew he wanted to be on the water. When he was older he sailed on countless voyages.
Jack worked with his dad as a contractor for a hotel. Jack was getting paid well and had an overall good lifestyle but decided that being a contractor wasn't what he wanted to do with his life. Jack had dreams of becoming a writer, and he was determined to fulfill them. Jack told his parents that he was moving back to the States to finish high school and his father found him a family to live with.
Jack Burden is known as the “student of history” ( Warren 372). The very fact that he is a historian is ironic, as he has come from an aristocratic and reputable family and grew up in Burden’s Landing. However, Jack lacks the ambition needed to excel in life and works for Willie, despite the disapproval of this family. He “not only lacks ambition, but all ‘essential confidence’ in himself” (Bloom 132). If he had ambition, he could have married Anne Stanton earlier, as Anne would always tell him to “go on back to State and finish up” and then she will marry him “even before [he] gets [his] law degree” (448). Yet, Jack forced himself to get kicked out of school. Even as a historian, Jack cannot deal with new things he learns about people he is closely associated with. After he learned that Lois was actually a person and not “merely a luscious machine” he went into one of series of the Great Sleep ( Warren 459). After he learned about Anne Stanton and Willie’s affair, Jack temporarily escaped to the West because “when [people] don’t like whey [the] are [they] always go West” (Warren 464). Jack was not able to cope with this news that he had to leave to relieve his mind. In addition, as a historian, he does not delve into his own past. Concerning his father, he only knew that the Scholarl...
Jack London whose birth name is John Griffin was known for his fiction adventurous novels. Although he was a sailor, gold prospector, rancher and served his country in the Army he still have yet served the time in the wilderness of Alaska. Jack London wrote ‘’The Call of the Wild’’ as if he lived it before. His words jump at you so viciously you had no choice to swallow, savor, and meditate on your life just like Chris McCandless. In the book ways of reading page 429 the dark knight of the soul by Richard E. Miller said that Jon Krakauer wrote about how Jack London actually persuade Chris McCandless that he could possibly escape the bonds of the corporatized world and reach a space of greater calm.
John Griffith Chaney, or Jack London, was born on January 12, 1876, in San Francisco, California to Flora Wellman. His suspected father, William Chaney, deserted his mother and, consequently, she later married Civil War veteran John London; hereafter, John Griffith Chaney would be referred to as Jack London to differentiate from his stepfather. Wellman never showed much affection for her son and referred to him as her “badge of shame” as she was unsure whom his biological father was. At the age of eleven (1887), Jack began to work as a paperboy to help support his working-class family; at the age of twelve (1888), he bought a small skiff and taught himself to sail; and at the age of fourteen (1890), he graduated Cole Grammar School. However,
Jack London wrote the novel The Call of the Wild; it was also his first success (Feast). The Call of the Wild is an exciting beast fable which dramatizes the unforgiving harshness of existence but shows that suffering can lead to heroic self-awareness (Buckner). London was big on the philosophical idea of Naturalism. As well as having links with literary naturalism, "The Call of the Wild is also a mythical book informed throughout with such traditional myths as the Myth of the Hero." Although Buck is always a dog throughout the story, his predicament is highly relevant to the human condition in a novel beginning with concise patterns of description and moving toward an increasingly lyrical style (Williams). The protagonist of The Call of the Wild is a dog named Buck. He's part German Sheppard and half Saint Bernard, he's labeled the "hero" of the story. The story takes place primarily in the Klondike region of Alaska except for in the first chapter it takes place in the Santa Clara Valley of California. The story is centrally focused around Buck; if it wasn't for him not having any speaking parts the reader would think he was a human because of the personality traits he possesses. In this paper we will discuss traits such as Buck's ability to adapt, Buck's bravery, his mental and physical strength, his loyalty and love and his instinct of the wild.
Both Chris and Jack London were looking for a simplified easier life, to try to make themselves happy. Chris McCandless favorite author was
Jack London brings man versus nature discussion into his story. The environment, however doesn't play against him for say, but does warn him from the very beginning. The audience can conclude that just like “the man” everyone is alone in the world - fighting for ourselves and the things we wish to acquire. The character created by London is isolated from the universe and fooli...
London’s actual name was John Griffith Chaney and he was born on January 12, 1876 in San Francisco, California. His mother, Flora Wellman, was unwed while his father, William Chaney, was a man of many trades, and he worked as an attorney, journalist, and also worked in the field of American astrology. London’s father was never permanent in his life and as a result, his mother married a man named John London, and the three moved to the Bay Area before they established themselves in Oakland. Jack was raised in a blue-collar, working-class family, but struggled throughout his teenage years because of the lasting impact of his father’s absence. As a result of his troubled childhood, London had a variety of jobs, comparable to his father, and he could never keep one for very long. From pirating oysters, working on a sealing ship in the Pacific to finding employment in a cannery, London’s undertakings did inspire him. Whenever London found any spare time, he would practice writing. His career in the writing world sparked in 1893, when his mother encouraged him to submit a story that was based off his adventures of surviving a typhoon on a sealing voyage, despite having only an eighth grade level education. A twe...
The fairies and the fairy realm have many responsibilities in this play. The most important of which is that they are the cause of much of the conflict and comedy within this story. They represent mischievousness and pleasantry which gives the play most of its emotion and feeling. They relate to humans because they make mistakes but differ in the fact that they do not understand the human world.
Is Jack London a nature faker? That’s an arguable opinion. In my essay I will be stating the reasons why Jack London IS a nature faker. In my research I found that when Jack London went to the Klondike to write his book, “Call of the Wild” he saw many acts of animal cruelty. Jack London did infact state that his encounters with animal cruelty did affect his writing. Also, in his book he shows animals showing strange acts of, “love”, which most dogs do not show like Buck, the dog in the book. In the book it also has many encounters of Buck doing human tasks, such as reading the newspaper and taking the grand kids places. As you can tell, Buck is being humanized.