Sinmileoluwa Badero Mr. Peterson Honors II English 10 May 2023 Jack London’s Literary Painting Jack London has a descriptive writing style, meaning he captures the setting, events, and characters through lengthy descriptions to bring depth to each situation. He is essentially the Vincent Van Gogh of authors. With each word and sentence, he adds intricate strokes to his canvas, painting a beautiful picture full of small details focused on highlighting the event taking place. Jack London is a well-renowned author known for being the first author to become a millionaire from his work. His famous short stories and novels introduce unique aspects to the world of literature, but trying to identify that aspect produces questions like: What is Jack …show more content…
He paints a picture. He mixes colors and strokes to bring the art piece together. These colors appear in the form of figurative language; like in “The Strength of the Strong'', London uses personification along with his descriptive writing style to introduce the setting, saying the cave “yawned” and “blew draughty gusts of wind”. Again, in “The Mexican '', London describes the main character using a set of metaphors: “he is the flame and the spirit of it…He is a destroying angel moving through the still watches of the night”. In both instances, London uses figurative language to set the story’s mood, giving the painting a specific feeling to portray that event. Such can easily affect the painting’s overall appearance. For example, in “The Strength of the Strong'', the mood shifts from peaceful and relaxing to hostile and dangerous when Old Long Beard, the narrator, starts describing gruesome events like when Old Boo-oogh was shot “full of arrows” and how they killed another character and “hung his body on a branch as a warning”. These examples illustrate the difference in London’s use of his descriptive writing style with and without figurative language. When he wants to set a certain mood, he uses figurative language to paint a picture, and when to switch the mood, he uses almost antonymous diction to contrast descriptions in the previous