JACK LONDON
1876 - 1916
BIO: BIRTH
• Jack was born on January
12, 1876. near San
Francisco, CA.• Was originally born John Griffith Chaney.
• When Jack was born, His mother was unmarried.
• Jack father has never been truly Identified.
BIO: FAMILY
• His Mother’s name was Flora Wellman.
• She was a local Music teacher.
• Many believe that Jack’s Father may have been
William Chaney.
- Chaney was a lawyer, journalist, and a
highly respected figure in the Astrology community.
• Shortly after jack was born, Flora married John
London, a partially disabled Civil War veteran.
BIO: FAMILY
London's first marriage was to Bess Maddern (elizabeth) in
1900.
They had two daughters, Joan and Bess.
After 4 years of marriage, Jack and Bess got divoced,
because He had an affair with Charmian Kittredge.
Re-married in 1905 to Charmian.
One child died at birth, and another pregnancy ended in a
miscarriage.
BIO:FAMILY
Both children were born in Piedmont, California.
Here London wrote one of his most celebrated
works, The Call of the Wild
Their first child, Joan, was born on January 15,
1901, and their second, Bessie (later called Becky),
on October 20, 1902
BIO: EARLY LIFE
At the age of 15, Jack had many part time jobs in order to help
his family financially.
London was born near Third and Brannan Streets in San
Francisco. The house burned down in the fire after the 1906 San
Francisco earthquake.
As a schoolboy, London often studied at Heinold's First and Last
Chance, a port side bar in Oakland. At 17, he confessed to the
bar's owner, John Heinold, his desire to attend University and
pursue a career as a writer.
BIO:LIFE
In 1905, London purchased a 1,000 acres ranch in Glen
Ellen, Sonoma County, California.
He desperately wanted the ranch to become a
successful business enterprise.
he educated himself through the study of agricultural
manuals and scientific tomes. He conceived of a system of
ranching that today would be praised for its ecological
wisdom.
BIO:LIFE
The ranch was an economic failure.
Jack would leave home for six months at a time, some say
he was distracted but other say that it was because he was
a alcoholic.
London spent $80,000 to build a 15,000-square-foot stone
mansion on the property. Just as the mansion was nearing
completion, two weeks before the London's planned to
move in, it was destroyed by fire.
BIO: EDUCATION •Dropped out from Oakland High School at the age of
14 to help support his family
• At 19, London went back to finish up High School
•Wanted to become a doctor
•Attended to University of California and Ohio State College
•He bought a boat and became an illegal oyster pirate at San
Francisco Bay
•Earned the title “Prince of the Oyster Pirates”
•Made a huge amount of money
Realized the consequences of the lifestyle as a pirate and quitted
INFORMATION
London joined the Socialist Labor Party in April
1896.
In 1901, he left the Socialist Labor Party and
joined the new Socialist Party of America.
London wrote from a socialist viewpoint
London shared common Californian concerns
about Asian immigration.
HOW HE GOT STARTED:
Spending the winter of 1897 in the Yukon provided the metaphorical
gold for his first stories, which he began publishing in the Overland
Monthly in 1899. From that point he was a highly disciplined writer,
who would produce over fifty volumes of stories, novels, and political
essays.
London was among the most publicized figures of his day, and he used
this pulpit to endorse his support of socialism, women's suffrage, and
eventually, prohibition. He was among the first writers to work with the
movie industry, and saw a number of his novels made into films.
HOW HE GOT STARTED
His novel The Sea-Wolf became the basis for the first full-length
American movie. He was also one of the first celebrities to use his
endorsement for commercial products in advertising, including dress
suits and grape juice.
Because he was an autodidact, London's ideas lacked consistency and
precision. For example, he clearly accepted the Social Darwinism and
scientific racism prevalent during his time, yet he seem troubled that
the "inevitable white man," as he called him, would destroy the rich
cultures of various native groups he had encountered over the years.
HOW HE GOT STARTED
His socialism was fervent, but countered by his
strong drive toward individualism and capitalist
success. These contradictory themes in his life and
writing make him a difficult figure to reduce to
simple terms.
London's great love became agriculture, and he
often stated he wrote to support his Beauty Ranch in
Glen Ellen.
GOLD RUSH:
On July 12, 1897, London (age 21) and his sister's husband
Captain Shepard sailed to join the Klondike Gold Rush.
Getting the Scurvy sickness it inspired him to write how to
build a fire.
London left Oakland with a social conscience and socialist
leanings; he returned to become an activist for socialism.
He concluded that his only hope of escaping the work "trap"
was to get an education and "sell his brains."
GOLD RUSH
London was fortunate in the timing of his writing
career. He started just as new printing technologies
enabled lower-cost production of magazines. This
resulted in a boom in popular magazines aimed at a
wide public, and a strong market for short fiction. In
1900, he made $2,500 in writing, about $70,000 in
current value. His career was well under way.
GOLD RUSH
While living at his rented villa on Lake Merritt in
Oakland, London met poet George Sterling and in
time they became best friends. In 1902, Sterling
helped London find a home closer to his own in
nearby Piedmont.
In later life London indulged his wide-ranging
interests by accumulating a personal library of
15,000 volumes. He referred to his books as "the
tools of my trade.”
MOST POPULAR WORKS:
• Summary of the novel
• Two men are out in the wild of the north. Their
dogs disappear as they are lured by a she-wolf
and eaten by the pack. They only have three
bullets left and Bill, one of the men, uses them to
try to save one of their dogs; he misses and is
eaten with the dog. Only Henry and two dogs are
left; he makes a fire, trying to drive away the
wolves. They draw in close, and he is almost
eaten, saved only by a company of men who were
traveling nearby.
• Why did he write the book?
• Jack London had drifted from job to job. He had
tried digging for gold in the Klondike. Then he
started writing. He wrote about what he knew.
He had lived where dogs were necessary. Wolves
and dogs bred with each other.
• Theme?
• He uses naturalism as his theme.
Summary of the novel:
This is the story of a dog’s change from a pet to a wild animal.
Buck is a pet dog in California around the time gold was
discovered in California. He is stolen and sent north to become a
sled dog. He has to learn how to adapt to his new environment
and actually adapts quicker than he thought he would. He
becomes leader of his pack and starts to become a stronger and
more powerful dog. Buck starts to hear the “call of the wild” and
wants to become more like a wolf or primitive dog. Although, he
still finds himself attached to the human world. Once Indians kill
his last owner, whom he loved very much, he makes the
transformation and becomes leader of a wolf pack.
Why did he write the book?
Jack London spent an unsuccessful year or so looking for gold
during the Klondike gold rush. As an adventurer, he returned
with the seeds of his novels.
What is the theme of the novel?
Civilization vs. the Wild
The novel traces Buck’s gradual transformation from a
domesticated dog into a wild dog.
WHITE FANG AND CALL OF THE WILD:
White Fang:
Call Of The Wild:
BIO:DEATH
London died November 22, 1916, in a sleeping porch in
a cottage on his ranch.
Many older sources describe London's death as a
suicide, and some still do. This conjecture appears to be a
rumor, or speculation based on incidents in his fiction
writings.
Some people say that it was kidney failure and his
alcoholism that killed him.