Essays on Jack London

American Indians are the nationality with an old history.

I expect to know more about American Indians religion and beliefs. I want to understand the culture of these strong and brave people. American Indian is the person who was born in America, has the Indian root, knows his history, and respects the culture, traditions and religion of American Indian. He feels his bounds to this nationality, obeys their laws. The person who doesn’t respect Indians laws and beliefs is not American Indian. Religion is the system of beliefs. Spirituality refers to a process of re-formation of the personality. Philosophy is the complex of thoughts of the person ...

Jack London is characterized as a naturalistic writer through most of his literature works, for instance, The Law of Life and To Build a Fire. In the two short stories, Jack incorporates naturalism themes such as nature vs. man, death, and the struggle for survival. The author presents main characters who struggle to survive with the indifference of nature to survive, but they ultimately die as nature wins the war against them. In To Build a Fire, London presents a protagonist who sets out on a journey despite the harsh weather. The man was warned against traveling during the ...

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer

The story of a young traveler Christopher Johnson McCandless has interested many people. He was a young man from a wealthy family, which decided to travel alone after graduating from the University and to spend some time in the wild of Alaska. His story so inspired remarkable writer Jon Krakauer that he decided to dedicate his book to this young man. This story began with books. The guy liked to read Jack London. He greatly admired the writer's position in life. “London’s fervent condemnation of capitalist society, his glorification of the primordial world, his championing of the great ...

First of all, I would like to focus on the story “The Man with the Twisted Lip” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The story is about Mr. Neville St. Clair, who has recently moved to the area. He rented a luxurious villa. Mr. St. Clair is happily married and had two children. His neighbors consider him to be a wonderful family man, and an excellent person. The character is engaged in commerce and seems to experience no financial difficulties. However, one day Mr. Neville St. Clair disappears. His wife asks Sherlock Holmes to find him. She tells Mr. Holmes ...

In story “The Law of Life”, Jack London seeks to identify the law of life, which to him seems to be eternal. The life set one law: “To perpetuate was the task of life, its law was death” (London, “The Law of Life”). This is a story full of the influence of naturalism, Darwinism and philosophy. This is a story about the old chief, who was left by the tribe to die at a fading fire, because the famine forced the Indians to rush to the places where more food is available. For the tribe, the sick old man ...

Organization

Introduction The subject of existentialism is not easy to define as it is impossible to explain the purpose of human existence in few sentences. However, according to American Heritage Dictionary (3rd edition), existentialism refers to a philosophy that lays emphasis on isolation and uniqueness of the individual in an indifferent or hostile environment. This can be seen as the underlying theme of the short story by Jack London where a man in solitude travels through unfriendly areas of Yukon which symbolizes indifferent and cruel cosmos. “To Build A Fire” is a short story by Jack London which centers around a man travelling ...

The entirety of human experience is, for proponents and advocates of the literary movement of naturalism, a result not of the individual’s choice, but of the natural circumstances of his social and biological environment. Whereas the realists advocate for the individual as the center of the conflict within the page, the naturalists construe literary conflict as emerging between man and nature. Two works that are often considered characteristic of this movement are Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat”, and Jack London’s “The Law of Life”. In both works, the protagonists are pitted against their natural environments, and the ...

The purpose of Naturalism as a literary movement is to bring about the accurate reproduction of a story’s characters inside the spheres of genetics, environment, fate, instinct as well as the current social context of the time period in which the author wrote the work. Within the American literary tradition, Naturalism has close connections with Realism, and it takes much of its influence from Determinism, the belief that the actions a person undertakes are motivated by both environment and heredity. In “The Open Boat” and “To Build a Fire,” Stephen Crane and Jack London attempt to use the actions and thoughts of ...

‘The Law of Life’ by Jack London is an enigmatic story focusing on survival and continuity of species. This story is written in context of an ancient Indian tribe that believes the needs of the society and that of nature surpass individual wants. London narrates the attitude towards life that is adopted by this ancient tribe, through the ageing life of their old chieftain Koskoosh. In this story, the principles of naturalism and the cycle of life are clearly brought out. This paper intends to analyze and bring out the concepts laid out in the short story, ‘Law of ...

Jack London's short story "To Build a Fire" tells the tale of a man and his dog, who attempt to survive in the Yukon. The harsh weather soon leaves them stranded, leaving them to take different methods to keep themselves alive. The attempt to build a fire takes up the majority of the story, as the man attempts to keep himself warm. The conflict between instinct and logic is told through symbolism and metaphor; the protagonist learns all too well that relying on logic is foolhardy, and that instinct must also be a component to his survival. Nature is shown to be an ...

Both Jack London and John Muir were lovers of the outdoors, and this love is reflected in their writing. Both writers also utilized canines in their stories, although they addressed the relationship between dog and man in vastly different ways. Jack London's canine-human relationship recognized and even glorified the ancient wolf-like tendencies of the dog, while John Muir's dog exemplified the common classification of dog as “man's best friend.” Both Muir and London were fascinated by the wild in the dog, and the fearless manner in which canines face their fates. London and Muir knew the wilds well: ...

Jack London succeeds in vividly illustrating the story he tells in “To Build a Fire”, as thru his writing he has the literary strength to paint the happenings and to draw the clear image of his characters and their adventures. Moreover, the strength of his style, the form and writing technique and structure empowers the content of this short story and this strength is an attribute of formalism (Dobie 33). London’s critics argue whether his writings adjust to formalism, comparing the strength of the content, versus the power of the literary art. This essay investigates whether Jack London’s “ ...

Chris McCandless, a.k.a Alex Supertramp, was a unique soul who wanted to become one with nature. One could call it an awaking of sorts, a call to nature. It is a difficult notion to understand, let alone experience. In addition, it can be dangerous to those who really do not know the realities of what it takes to survive out alone in the wild. What does it mean to live a pure life in nature? In April of 1992, Chris took advantage of an opportunity like no other and decided to fulfill his dream of freedom and survival in the Alaskan wilderness. Jon ...

Abstract

In “To Build a Fire,” the man’s lack of imagination; his inability to reflect on and admit the reality of his situation; and to recognize his shortcomings represent mankind’s fatal hubris. Man stands apart from Nature, not understanding that he has a place in it – he does not hold sway. To deny Nature then is, in itself, an unnatural act.

An Unnatural Act: Man’s Fatal Capacity for Hubris

Jack London’s literary landscape is inhabited by characters pitted against the brutal forces of Nature, in which the aim is nothing more or less than survival itself. In this unforgiving world, man’s fundamental existence is stripped of ...