JACK LONDON

1876-1916

Jack London had endured more hardships by the age of 21 than most people experience in a lifetime.

His struggles gave him a sympathy for the working class and a lasting dislike of drudgery.

They also provided inspirationfor novels and short stories, andbecame the foundation of his success as a writer.

JACK LONDON Grew up in San Francisco, in

extreme poverty; Left school at 11 to support himself; Worked long hours, but constantly

read; Reading inspired him to travel and

his job experiences inspired him to become active in fighting for the rights of workers.

JACK LONDON After being arrested for

vagrancy, he decided to educate himself and reshape his life;

Stayed in school only one semester before the lure of adventure proved irresistible;

Traveled to the Alaskan Yukon in search of gold.

Although he was unsuccessful as a miner, this experience taught him about the human desire for WEALTH AND POWER AND ABOUT MAN’S INABILITY TO CONTROL THE FORCES OF NATURE!

Once back in California, he became a writer;

The stack of rejection slips grew past five feet;

But, he continued to write 1000 words daily.

Eventually he became the highest-paid writer in the country

Produced more than 50 books; The first American writer to

earn more than a million dollars.

JACK LONDON His best works depict an

individual’s struggle against the powerful forces of nature:

Call of the Wild White Fang To Build a Fire

TO BUILD A FIRE The US purchased Alaska from

Russia for two cents an acre. Many Americans considered this a bad move since Alaska was nothing but a frozen, barren wasteland. But the discovery of gold in 1896 had thousands of prospectors stampeding to the Yukon in search of quick riches…including Jack London.

True, the new territory was mostly barren; but its several hundred thousand square miles of frigidity at least gave breathing space to those who else would have suffocated at home.

He also said…

Show me a man with a tattoo and I’ll show you a man with an interesting past.

And…

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

Naturalism Jack London was a leading member of the

naturalist movement. The movement combined realism's emphasis on depicting reality with a philosophy of determinism, which holds that humans have little ability to impose their will upon their own destinies.

In Naturalism, characters can be studied through their relationships to their surroundings.

Naturalism Naturalists used detailed realism to

suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had an inescapable force in shaping human character.

i.e. destiny, fate…

Naturalism

Through this objective study of human beings, naturalistic writers believed that the laws behind the forces that govern human lives might be studied and understood. Naturalistic writers therefore used a version of the scientific method to write their novels; they studied human beings governed by their instincts and passions as well as the ways in which the characters' lives were governed by forces of heredity and environment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUyVMNShdAc

To Build a Fire Audio 41:02