Jack London 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.

Born out of wedlock as John Griffith Chaney on January 12, 1876 in San Francisco. John “Jack” Chaney knew while in his youth that he had a great love for books. Turning to his favorite story whenever he needed a friend. To earn a quick buck Jack began delivering newspapers and setting up pins in the bowling alley, but by the time he finished grade school he took up a full time job at a West Oakland cannery, working for eighteen hours a day at ten cents an hour. Over the year that he

“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.

He married Elizabeth Maddern and had two daughters, Joan and Bess. He wrote his first novel shortly after this engagement entitled The Call of the Wild. He became famous however fame could not cover his depression(McCracken 371).      Soon after his new fame, Jack London went to the Russo-Japanese War as a correspondent for The San Francisco Examiner. Upon his return to the USA he was sued for divorce.

Jack is more conservative when it comes to his lifestyle in the country. He does not want a boring life that’s only meant for business so he makes up a fake brother named Ernest. This leads him to live a double-life because he goes by the name Ernest when

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

Inspired by the writer Jack London and his famous story To build a fire, Chris decided to leave everything

He graduated from college in 1934 (the same year in which the Great Depression started). For twelve years, Jack worked for an ad agency. Jack married his first wife (her name is unknown) but ended it in the late 1940s. He married Marguerite Guest sometime in his early adulthood and after the divorce with his first-wife, but the date of the marriage is uncertain. Marguerite and Jack had two kids; a boy named Kenneth Finney and a girl named Marguerite Finney, after her mother. In the early 1950s, Jack moved to Marin County in

At the age of two, he spent a month in the hospital with scarlet fever. Jack survived his childhood illnesses, but suffered a back injury while attending Harvard. He wrote his senior thesis on Britain’s lack of action as Germany militarized. His Thesis was later published as While England Slept (Kennedy, 1961). After graduating Harvard, JFK joined the Navy as a Lieutenant. He commanded a patrol boat in the South Pacific Ocean. His patrol boat was rammed and sunk by an enemy ship. JFK reinjured his back, but still managed to pull another seaman from the wreckage and lead the survivors to safety. JFK was awarded medals for bravery and leadership. Several books and movies exalt the actions of JFK during the war. After the war JFK followed in his family footsteps and began his political career. He served in the House of Representatives for several terms, then the United States Senate. In 1960 he ran for and was elected the 43rd president of the United States. At 43, he was the youngest president ever elected (Infoplease, 2007). He was also the first Roman Catholic elected president (Preston, 2007). Both momentous accomplishments still stand almost 50 years later. During his inaugural speech, he is remembered for his "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" (Kennedy, 1960). That country before self ideal portrayed him as a selfless leader who genuinely cared about the country. During his

To truly understand John F. Kennedy, one must first understand his early life. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917 (“John”). John F. Kennedy had always looked towards the future (“John”). He had already made plans for his presidency way before when he was even elected (“John”). In the election of November, Kennedy had won by a margin of just twelve-thousand votes out of the almost 70 million cast (“John”). Kennedy was not a caring student until 1940, his senior year at Harvard University (“John”). In 1952 Kennedy had decided to run for the United States senate (“John”). Again, he was victorious. Jack's first two years in the senate were spent by keeping his promise to his Massachusetts (“John”).

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 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.

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

Jack London’s attitude in the text made it very apparent how he felt about life. In retrospect, he said that you do what you have to do to survive. One of the very first examples of why he believed this is in the novella, when Buck was taken from his castle in the Santa Clara Valley. Buck had no idea where he was, where he was going to, or why. He soon found out that he was going to be a sled dog and was auctioned off; Buck did not like that. He fought with the man in the red sweater and he finally surrendered so that he did not get beaten to death. London expresses that Buck just did what he had to do by saying, “He was beaten (he knew that); but he was not broken” (Call of the Wild, London) Another example of when Buck