Jack London: Naturalist Pioneer
Jack London was born as John Griffith London on January 12th 1876 in
San Francisco California. London published over 50 stories and novels.
that mainly focused on natural themes and settings. One of his most famous short stories “To
Build a Fire” is an good example of his style and influences.
¨To Build a Fire¨ themes, setting and conflicts, were all
heavily influenced by the naturalist movement and his time in the
Yukon.
London’s childhood and teenage years gave a base for London’s future
writing career. London had an extremely complicated family life.
London’s biological father, William Chaney had demanded that London’s
mother, Flora Wellman, get an abortion. When she refused, Chaney left
and
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Prentiss cared and loved Jack
as if she was his own mother, and London thought of her as a mother
figure the rest of his life.
However, Wellman soon remarried, man named John London with two daughters, and
young London was taken back into the family. The family moved around a lot, first to
Oakland then to different farms. This constant moving led Jack to be quite
peripatetic in his adult years (Jack London, Top Five Books). Moving
so often also caused young London to feel deprived of important
childhood experiences. London reflected on this saying “My body and
soul were starved when I was a child,". This led him also to be a
writer because he was able to express his emotions and frustration his
family caused him.
Since the London family moved around so much, school became very difficult for young
London. He never stayed long enough to have school be a large part of his life. Also,
since his family was middle-class, he had to work. At age fourteen, he dropped
out of school. Instead he decided to work odd jobs to help provide for
his struggling family. However, in 1895 London went to Oakland