Call of the Wild By Jack London Introduction Call of the Wild By Jack London

Background Lived 1876-1916 Born in San Francisco Grew up in Oakland in poverty Spent hours reading everyday, educated himself

London was determined to avoid a life of poverty and hard labor Went to UC Berkeley but did not graduate In 1897, at 21, gold was found in the Yukon region of Alaska London traveled north to become a prospector Background

Experiences & Influences London was unsuccessful searching for gold and got scurvy The wild of Alaska captured his imagination When he returned to Oakland he used his experiences in the wild as the basis for many of his stories

Charles Darwin’s ideas were a large influence on London Darwin was an English naturalist who proposed the theory of evolution through natural selection Briefly, natural selection says that those species who are best adapted, or suited to an environment, survive to pass on their genes This is known as survival of the fittest Darwin’s Influence

Naturalism London was a Naturalist writer. Naturalist writers believed people were ruled by their instincts and their passions Their attempts at exercising free will or choice are powerless by forces beyond their control Characters can be studied through their relationships to their surroundings.

The Problem with Naturalism Naturalism perverted, or misrepresented Darwin’s ideas (Social Darwinism) Used biological concepts to justify racism, said some races were better than others Example: People were rich/proper because they were born intelligent, people were poor or criminals because they were born unintelligent Note: THIS IS NOT TRUE!!!

Interpreting Call of the Wild: Themes and Terms The world is cruel and unforgiving, it is the survival of the fittest. It is not enough to merely survive; one should aspire (want) to master their situation. Certain situations bring out primitive instincts buried by civilization. The laws that govern the wild and civilization are different Mastery can only be achieved by separating from the group.

Terms Anthropomorphism: Giving human traits to animals Example: Winnie the Pooh Bear walked and talked with Christopher Robin Atavism: reverting to the ancestral type (more primitive form) in evolution