FREE ESSAY ON JACK LONDON

JACK LONDON

One is led to believe that if a person is an author, then that person would have the best
education that is available to them. However, this is not the case for Jack London. He
dropped out of school at the age of fourteen and explored San Francisco, stole oysters,
worked for the government, went to Japan, and traveled around the United States by
hitching rides on freight trains. This is just a list of the few things he did during the
five-year period while he did not attend school. He then returned and finished high
school at the age of nineteen to continue onto the University of California at Berkeley,
only to quit after one semester. Yet, he is described by Howard Lacchtman, as a "born
teller of tales" (Lundberg 1).
Flora Wellman gave birth to Jack London on January 12, 1876 in San Francisco, California.
Flora Wellman was an unmarried woman who came from a very wealthy background. Jack
London's father, an astrologer who was very nomadic, deserted him and his mother when
Jack London was born. Jack London received his last name from his stepfather who married
his mother late in the year of 1876. John London, Flora Wellman, and Jack London moved to
Oakland, California in 1886 where Jack London spent his childhood years. It is said that
London was a frequent visitor of the Oakland Public Library and loved to read at an early
age. Yet, because of the hard times, he always helped support his family by "delivering
newspapers, sweeping saloon floors, setting up pins in a bowling alley and working at
other jobs" (Port of Oakland).
At the age of fourteen, Jack London decided to quit school to "escape poverty and gain
adventure" (Britannica.com Inc.). He did a number of things in the five-year period while
he escaped from school. He pirated for oysters on the San Francisco Bay, worked to
capture poachers on fish patrols, and sailed all around the Pacific Ocean on a sailing
ship. He also "hoboed around the country" (Dr. Stasz) and worked many miscellaneous,
strenuous and ruthless jobs. At the age of nineteen, he returned to school to discover
his passion in life, reading. 
When London returned to high school at the age of nineteen, he became well acquainted
with the idea of socialism through the many books he read. At the age of twenty he became
a student at the University of California at Berkeley, but he quit after one semester.
London was often known as the "Boy Socialist of Oakland for his street corner oratory"
(Stasz). He ran many times for the political title of mayor as a socialist, but to his
disappointment, he was never elected. He later quit the Socialist party because because
of its "lack of fire and fight" and its loss of "emphasis on the class struggle" (Port of
Oakland). Because he was never elected, he chose to become a writer to escape poverty and
the horrific working conditions of factories, mines and hard labor. So London tried to
support himself by writing, all without success, and eventually joined the gold rush to
the Klondike in 1897. He then returned from the Klondike gold rush in 1898 to attempt
writing once again. 
He sold his story, To the Man on Trail to the Overland Monthly of San Francisco for five
dollars. Since his publication in the Overland Monthly, he became a dedicated and
disciplined writer. He then completed his first book in 1900, The Son of the Wolf, which
is a collection of his tales from Klondike, Alaska.
In the same year as his first book release, London married Elizabeth Maddern and they
settled in Oakland, California. After the birth of his first daughter Joan in 1901 he ran
for the Oakland mayor as a Socialist candidate, but did not win. His second daughter Bess
was born in 1902. A short while after Bess was born, London and his family moved to
Piedmont Hills where he met and became good friends with George Sterling. However, this
was not his last move and he did not live happily ever after. 
In 1905, he divorced his wife Elizabeth London and the next day he married Charmian
Kittredge. Together they bought a ranch near Glen Ellen in Sonoma Valley where London
lived the rest of his life. In 1910, he started to construct a mansion "designed to stand
a thousand years" (Port of Oakland), however it burned down in 1913, the day before they
were to move in. Later that year, he had an appendectomy and the surgeon told him his
kidneys were deteriorating and he would not live for very long. 
London died on November 22, 1916 due to an attack of uremia, a severe kidney disease.
Through his whole lifetime London wrote over 50 short stories, poems and novels about
boxing, cold adventures, and Klondike trails. He lived to see many events go down in
history. 
Bibliography
-  Britannica.com Inc. "London, Jack." 14 Oct. 2000. Available WWW:
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/0/0,5716,49990+1,00.html
-  London, Jack. The Call of the Wild. New York: I. Wadman & Son, INC., 1979. 
-  Lundberg, Murray. "The Life of Jack London as reflected in his Works." n pag. On-line.
13 Sept. 2000. Available WWW:
http://articculture.about.com/culture/arcticculture/library/yafeatures/bl-london.htm
-  Lundberg, Murray. "The Life of Jack London as reflected in his Works." n pag. On-line.
13 Sept. 2000. Available WWW:
http://articculture.about.com/culture/arcticculture/library/yafeatures/bl-london2htm
-  Lundberg, Murray. "The Life of Jack London as reflected in his Works." n pag. On-line.
13 Sept. 2000. Available WWW:
http://articculture.about.com/culture/arcticculture/library/yafeatures/bl-london3.htm
-  McLeod, Jim. "Jack London Main Page." n. pag. On-line. 13 Sept. 2000.Available WWW:
http://www.jacklondon.com
-  Stasz, Clarice. "Jack London's 'Credo'." 19 Jan. 1999: n. pag. On-line. 13 Sept. 2000.
Available WWW: http://www.sunsite.berkeley.edu/London/credo.html
-  Stasz, Clarice Dr. "John Griffiths London." 15 May 2000: n. pag. On-line. 13 Sept.
2000. Available WWW: http://www.sunsite.berkeley.edu/London/jackbio.html
-  SunSITE Manager. "Jack London's Writings." 12 Dec. 1999: n. pag. On-line. 13 Sept.
2000. Available WWW: http://www.sunsite.berkeley.edu/London/Writings/
-  SunSITE Manager. "The Jack London Collection." 15 May 2000: n. pag. On-line. 13 Sept.
2000. Available WWW: http://www.sunsite.berkeley.edu/London/index.html
-  Veggian, Henry. "The Call of the Wild." 3 May 1999: n. pag. On-line. 13 Sept. 2000.
Available WWW: http://www.sunsite.berkeley.edu/London/callwild.html
-  Port of Oakland. "Jack London Square-History." 21 Jan 2000. On-line. 14 Oct. 2000.
Available WWW: http://www.jacklondonsq.com/