Jack London's characters and settings reflect his life in his works. This is most obvious in his novels The Call of the Wild, Martin Eden, and To Build a Fire.
             Jack London was born in 1876 in San Francisco, California. He lived with his father and mother. His father was an astrologer and his mother supposedly talked to the dead. He grew up not being cared for and with very little education (Adventures 482). Jack London finished school through the 8th grade (Wilson 1). When he turned eighteen he became an illegal "oyster pirate" in San Francisco.
             Although he did not have very much education, he entered the University of California. He became dissatisfied with college life and left during his first year. He then followed the latest gold rush in the Yukon Territory. London did not come back with gold though. He returned with ideas that would become his literary material. Though only being in his early twenties, he began to write fiction. Living in the Yukon had shown him nature at its harshest form, as the enemy of human survival (Adventures 482). He used his Northland experiences to draft The Call of the Wild (members.tripod).
             The Call of the Wild is about a dog named Buck. A dog stolen from his home in California to be used as a sled dog in the Alaskan gold rush. He is happy with domestic life at the home of Judge Miller. But, Buck finds himself vulnerable to human and animal cruelty as he is moved from owner to owner. His exposure to the polar wilderness kindles inactive primitive instincts in Buck, and he finds himself wanting to join the free-roaming wolves. A man named John Thorton rescues Buck from the cruelty of his owner. They develop a powerful, true affection for each other. Buck becomes very famous for his strength and his hard work. He still hears the call of the wild and he wants to answer it more than anything. When his master John is killed, his last link to human life i...