Essay on Jack London: A Biography

McCandless had many literary heroes such as Jack London, Christopher Johnson McCandless really admired Jack London since he was a child. “London’s fervent condemnation of capitalist society, his glorification of the primordial world, his championing of the great unwashed” all of it mirrored McCandless passions. Both McCandless and Jack London had the same experiences and same point of view. Jack London actually left his family, and he came back home and wrote a book about his journey.

“Jack London is King” this was carved in to a block of wood found at the bus where Chris McCandless’s body was found. Chris McCandless admired Jack London as a man and a writer. Chris went into the wild’s of Alaska to prove that he could live off the land, with no modern conveniences, and no human contact. Jack London wrote stories about men and animals experiences against the environment, and survival against hardships, which were written from his own life. His works included individualism and the study of the laws of nature. Chris wanted to explore his own individualism, who he was, and how he was to live the rest of his life.

“In the end we only regret the chances we didn’t take.” - Lewis Carroll. The quote discussed is Jack London “The proper function of man is to live, not exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” In order to support this I will use evidence from articles and studies. I agree with Jack London’s claim that people should live not exist, and use their time wisely. I agree because risk taking actually has health benefits, people often take risks and then love the outcome and research has found risk taking can actually be eye-opening.

The lifestyle from then hasn't changed much in today's world. When Jack's dad found out his mother was pregnant he left. Jack's mother tried to commit suicide. When jack grew older he went to school for two years and then took a break to join the Alaskan gold rush. He was originally from California. He didn’t get any riches from the gold rush but gained knowledge and materials. He then started writing and came out with quite a few novels and most favoring the life in Alaska around dogs. Some of the books were “Call of the wild”, “White Fang” those two were about dogs up in Alaska. When Jack was getting older he did not care about his health and it started to catch up to him. He became very ill and eventually to bad and injected himself with morphine. He overdosed himself on purpose and was found nearly dead the next morning and died the same

Throughout the book, the author Jack London was mentioned numerous times. Many of the excerpts from his writings were placed in the beginnings of the chapters. “London

Jack London was born in 1876, and died in 1916. He was born in San Francisco, California, and was the son of Flora Wellman Chaney. When he was a child, he would sometimes living with the Prentisses. Mr. and Mrs. Prentisses were African Americans who served as London’s surrogate parents. When Jack turned 15, he sailed the San Francisco Bay as an oyster pirate. During his time on the water, London developed an alcohol problem, which would eventually become alcoholism. In 1894, London was arrested as a vagrant and spent 30 days in Erie County Penitentiary.

In 1903, Jack London wrote his best selling novel, concerning the life of a sled dog that travels throughout Alaska, the Yukon, and the Klondike. Throughout this book Jack London uses personification to illustrate the dog’s viewpoint. London describes what adventures the dog encounters after being kidnapped from his Santa Clara Valley home to be taken to Alaska as a sled dog to help men pursue gold in the gold rush of 1897. Buck, is the name of this sled dog who experiences his primitive life style for the first time after many forays through Canada and Alaska. Due to the events in Buck’s life, he transforms from a domesticated, family pet to a primordial, wild beast.

Nature is always pushing man to his limits. When man heeds the warning signs that nature has to offer and those warnings of other men, he is most likely to conquer nature. When he ignores these warnings, nature is sure to defeat man. To build a fire is a prime example of this scenario. In the short story, “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, an inexperienced traveler in the Yukon travels alone with his dog, even though it is ill advised to do so. The man is strong and smart but nature humbled him during his quest to reach his friends. The man’s inexperience with traveling in the cold subzero temperatures doomed him from the beginning, but his strong focus under extreme pressure and his keen sense of

Born on October 6, 1836, in Hamilton Square, N.J., John Taylor was the son of James F. Taylor, a brick manufacturer, and Rebecca Borden Taylor. Working at his father’s brick yard at an early age, he was but fourteen years old when his father died, at which time he took a job as a clerk in the grocery store owned by Anthony R. Rainear, and two years later he gained an interest in the business.

Jack London and Stephen Crane were both well-known literary naturalists who died at relatively early ages. Despite having lived such a short life, Jack London lived a full life. He has achieved wide popularity abroad, with his work being translated into more than fifty languages, as well as having written fifty literary works in eighteen years. His stories in the naturalistic mode still continue to influence writers today. Stephen Crane was also an accomplished writer as well as a poet. He was among the first to express in writing a new way of looking at the world. Although Crane is also seen as one of the first American naturalistic writers, a Symbolist, and Imagist, the achievements which

Jack London was born in 1876 in San Francisco, California. When his father abandoned the family his mother remarried and he took his stepfather’s last name. London discovered early on that it was a struggle to make a living and he worked various jobs like a sailor, oyster pirate and fish patroller. Troubles began in 1893 during the national economic crisis and London joined a march of unemployed workers. After he was put in jail for vagrancy for a whole month he decided

Jack London and Stephen Crane obsessively fixated on the theme of death in their writing. The two writers were both similar and dissimilar. Both died young: it is unsure whether or not Crane committed suicide. Both wrote about contemporary and realistic topics and both dwelt heavily on existentialist themes. Both too were very realist. In 'Buck', London has the character live in the real world not escape it, whilst Crane has his character thoroughly absorbed in the vicissitudes and realities of war. Both also use mediums to convey their message: with London it seems to be the dog (for instance in To Build a Fire who connotes superior friendship and loyalty to that of the man) and in Crane it is the extent of human fear in the human when faced by war.

“Adventures’ Call,” by Jan Burns states,” Though Jack London died at age 40, his adventures live on through his vibrant and realistic writing.” It took lots of motivation for Jack to become a successful writer. Jack London became a successful writer with the encouragement from his mom and his experiences in the Klondike war. According to the text, the encouragement of Jack’s mom helped him become a writer.

Jack London, an American author known for his thrilling adventure stories, showed the world that even an exciting story that takes place in exotic settings can include all the intricacies of great literature. This is seen in many of his stories with the implementation of symbolism, many times a recurring theme in his work. Also, London used many ideas of the day such as Darwinism and Spencerism in his writings in order to better portray his views. However, perhaps one of the most telling signs that London wrote good literature was through London's mastery of a rising literary movement known as naturalism.

According to http://www.biography.com/people/jack-london-9385499#early-years his life as a writer essentially began in 1893. After an eye opening contest he decided to dedicate his life to writing short stories he was determined to live his life as a writer. He has wrote many stories