Strolling in the American Literature Garden [Part 11]

Jack London (1876-1916) was the first American proletarian writer. He was born and raised in a poor family in San Francisco, California, with a music teacher mother and an astrologer father.

Author Jack London.

At age 10, he sold newspapers; at 14, he worked in a canning factory; at 16, he became a fishing patrol officer; at 17, he worked a year on a ship; at 18, he wandered across America; at 21, while in college, his father revealed that he was infertile after marrying his mother. Outraged, he dropped out of school and joined the wave of gold prospectors in Klondike, beginning a life of bitter yet glorious wandering.

Jack London began writing at the age of 20, but it wasn't until he was 27 that he became famous with *The Call of the Wild* (1903), * The Sea Wolf* (1904), *White Fang* (1907), *Iron Heel* (1907), and *Burning Daylight * (1910). Many of his works symbolize the "wolf law" of the capitalist social order.

Jack London, along with Stephen Crane (1871-1900), Frank Norris (1870-1902), and Upton Sinclair (1878-1968), was labeled by US President Theodore Roosevelt as a "mud-stirring" writer for exposing the corruption of American politics and business. London lived in dilapidated houses in the capital so he could write *The People of the Abyss* (1903), a naturalist novel. *Class Wars* (1905) is a collection of socialist articles. Jack London championed socialism and the proletarian revolution, while also glorifying heroes and siding with the downtrodden.

It wasn't until he was 37 that he became wealthy from writing, and his books were translated into many languages ​​around the world , including Vietnamese (such as "Iron Heel," "Burning Daylight," "The Call of the Wild, " etc.). He committed suicide at the age of 40 on his luxurious farm in California. This act represented the escapism of a fundamentally romantic writer, feeling lost in a hostile world, drawing readers' attention to his work and his personality.

The Call of the Wild brought Jack London unexpected fame. Subsequently, generations of readers read translations of his works in various languages, which brought him considerable wealth. The story is about a dog named Buck , who lives on the farm of a judge in the temperate South of America. In the fall of 1894, gold was discovered in the Klondike region.

So people from all over flocked to Alaska in the far-off, frigid North. Buck was sold and taken there. Buck had to change his way of life. No longer pampered or respected, he had to adapt to the harsh natural environment, endure beatings, and strain his back and neck pulling sleds; his muscles tensed like steel, and his survival instincts surged in his subconscious.

Life became even harder when Buck was sold to three gold prospectors, reckless adventurers. He fought for his life and became the pack leader. His owners and the pack fell into an icy ravine and perished. Buck was fortunately rescued by a man named Thorntan.

From then on, humans and animals were bound together by mystical and profound feelings. Buck worshipped his master as a god. Twice he saved his master's life, and once, he brought his master a profit of over $1,000 in a challenge. After his master was killed by the Native Americans, Buck could not resist his instincts, following the call of the wild, returning to the forest with his pack of wolves. He became the master, and every year he never forgot to make a pilgrimage back to the place where Thorntan died.

The Call of the Wild is a thematic novel. The author intended to illustrate Darwin's theory of evolution, the power of the environment, and the law of adaptation for survival. But the story is captivating, with animals possessing distinct personalities, full of bravery, ambition, and cruelty. In the early 20th century, the work was welcomed by a class of industrialized people who longed for wild instincts and a life close to nature.

The Sea Wolf tells the story of a seafaring adventure. A writer named Humphrey is shipwrecked and rescued by the captain of the sailing ship "The Ghost," Wolf, a very tough and ruthless man. Humphrey is forced to work as a servant, enduring abuse. Also on board is the beautiful poet Maude, who is also rescued. Both men take notice of her.

One day, the very same sailing ship, "The Ghost," sank. Humphrey and Maude swam to a deserted island. When the ship's hull washed ashore, where Wolf was still alive, he prevented the two young men from repairing the ship so they could return home. Ultimately, he became blind and paralyzed; until his death, he remained hot-tempered and defiant. Humphrey and Maude were rescued and returned to the civilized world.

White Fang is a novel with a plot development that is the reverse of The Call of the Wild . The author tells the story of a wolfdog that is gradually domesticated, but is treated cruelly by its first owner who wants to train it to be a fighting dog. Its second owner, a mining engineer, rescues it and takes it home to the West to tame it. Later, it is severely injured while protecting its family from escaped criminals.

The Iron Heel is a science fiction novel set in the 26th century, four centuries after the world escaped the "iron heel" of bourgeois rule. The author imagines that during that time, he discovered a diary written by the revolutionary fighter Evit about the revolutionary activities of her husband, Enos, who was arrested and executed in 1932.

The story recounts events from 1912. Enos, a worker and member of the Socialist Party, persuaded many people to participate in social revolution, including a bishop. He was arrested, escaped from prison, and prepared two uprisings, both of which were suppressed by the "iron hooves." It wasn't until the 23rd century that the "iron hooves" were finally defeated. The style of the work resembles an adventure and detective novel, though it could be classified as "proletarian literature."

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