jack landon :: essays research papers fc

The idea of peaceful rebellion through nature is the basis for many books. Kipling was one of the first one to do it through many of his novels, but Jack London got a lot deeper into that concept. He was born in 1876 in San Francisco, an illegitimate child born to a single woman, but his mother did marry a man named John London, and named her son John London. This family moved a lot, but ended up in San Francisco again where John London, now known as Jack London worked in the bay patrol. Jack was one of the first ones to go to Alaska in the time of gold rush, he did not get rich with gold, but he recorded the Alaskan life and put it in his books. The series of books about Alaskan life are some of his most known works, such as "The Son of the Wolf" and White Fang, in which Jack London portrays the similar themes of the hard life in Alaska, the learning experience of men and animals, and the lifelong fight for survival. Oh what a hard life it was in Alaska. But why would anyone go there if it was so hard, one might ask. (Glass, 529) Well it was the gold rush of eighteen ninety eight, many looked north for a way to get rich easy, some looked for adventures, but there were not many of those. Jack London portrays the hard lives of the adventurers who went to the Klondike River valley for gold, but got a lot more than they burgeoned for. In one of the stories, from a collection called "The Son of the Wolf", Jack London described a mad hunt for gold. A person enters the yet innocent soil, near a stream, and as soon as he does, starts digging hungrily for gold. He finds some, but not even enough to keep, so he throws it away. He works without food for many hours, so engulfed by his task, that he doesn't even see that it's dark. This continues for several days, until he finds a lot of gold, by then the valley looks line a minefield. While digging he is shot in the back by a thief, but so overtaken by greed, he manages to beat his assassin down and kill him. And what's ironic, he wouldn't even touch a deer, but as his treasure is threatened to be taken away from him, he kills a person.