1、Jack London(1876-1916),BiographyLiterary careerMajor worksWriting style & ThemeSignificanceThe Sea Wolf,Jack Londons Life,He was born in San Francisco on January 12, 1876, the illegitimate son of a self-taught man and an eccentric woman. He took the last name of his stepfather and was called John Gr
2、iffith London. At the age of 13, he took a job in a cannery, and at the age of 15 he was the captain of an oyster pirate boat. He lived on the fringes of society until he was seventeen.In 1893 he became a sailor. For the next four years he worked his way around the world.,Determined to get an educat
3、ion, he went to high school at the age of nineteen, entered preparatory school, and then spend a semester as a special student at the University of California in 1896. London had to drop out after a few months to make money for the family. But he read extensively by himself. He as a tramp and partic
4、ipation in the Klondike gold rush（淘金热） in 1897. He failed to find gold, but the experience became a rich source for his literary creation later. In 1916 he resigned from the Socialist Party because he could not resolve the tension exemplified in his fiction. He died of uraemia (尿毒症) on November 22.,
5、Newsboy报童 (at 10) Oyster pirate (16) A hard laborer (muscle seller) A tramp流浪者, beggar (at 18),A knowledge pursuer A successful writer A rancher (大农场主),The People of the Abyss(1903)深渊中的人们 Love of life 热爱生命 The Call of the Wild(1903) 野性的呼唤 The Sea Wolf(1904) 海狼 White Fang(1906) 白牙 The Iron Heel(1908)
6、 铁蹄 Martin Eden(1909) 马丁.伊登 The Valley of the Moon(1912) 月谷 The Star Rover(1915) 星游人 The Little Lady of the Big House(1916)大屋里的小妇人,His Major Works,Writing Style,Forceful and colorful Subjectivity and enthusiasm Naturalism mingled with Romanticism Limitations: formless, clumsy yet vigorous style; sti
7、ff and stereotyped characters and dialogues,Theme of Jack Londons Works,Influenced by Marxism and Darwinism, and also by Nietzsches(尼采) view of superman, London believed both in the success of the working class and in the triumph of the strongest individuals. Primitive violence, Anglo-Saxon supremac
8、y, biological evolution, class warfare, and mechanistic determinism. Strong and weak individuals in the context of irresistible natural forces such as the sea or the desert,Significance,Breaking through some forbidden area in literature (violence, death, sex etc.) Greatly influencing the 20th centur
9、y writers such as Hemingway and Faulkner Hope for human civilization Father of American proletariat(工人阶级) literature Realist, spokesman of socialism Great thinker,The Sea Wolf,Wolf Larsen: the captain of ship Ghost. Humphrey van Weyden: a survivor from a storm and then became the mate of Ghost. Maud
10、 Brewster: a lady who Wolf Larsen and Weyden loved.,General Plots,Weyden met a huge storm and all people on the ship were disappeared, but he was saved by the cook of Ghost. He became a cabin boy. He helped the cook wash dishes and cut potatoes. In the meanwhile ,he found Wolf Larsen s cruelty andse
11、lfishness, but he also realized the differencebetween the captain and the other people onthe ship. He and the captain discussed aboutphilosophy, literature, astronomy ,etc. Many sailors wanted to kill captain, so at last, Weyden became the most reliable person to captain and he was appointed as the
12、mate to help the captain.,General Plots,After a storm, Maud was saved by them, and the captain fell in love with her, but she was always afraid of him. Weyden loved her ,too. Finally, Humphrey and she decided to escape from the “hell”. Weyden and Maud landed on an island. They learnt to build houses
13、 by sealskin. Life was happy though hard before the “Ghost“ came . Wolf had no ability to kill Weyden for bad headache. Weyden and Maud tried to rebulid the ship. But Wolf destroyed their work. Wolf was blind at last, and his illness made him very weakly. As a result, his right ear couldnt hear, eve
14、n could not move his right arm or leg. But Maud and Weyden still took care of him. Day by day, Wolf became weaker and weaker, finally, he killed himself.,The Summary,This book not only describes the fight between human beings and nature, but also the fight between man and man. Wolf Larsen believed t
15、hat the big creatures eat the little ones, and he never respected others lives at all. By those characters, we can see the confliction of civilization and uncivilization, the struggle of humanity and inhumanity. It shows the authors views and values of life, and it also praised human beings noble sp
16、irits.,Jacks notable sayings,Youth is always young and elderly will only grow old青年总是年青，只有老年才会变老 The only way to get smart is to buy with the youth得到智慧的唯一办法，就是用青春去买 I would rather be ashes than dust!我宁愿化作灰烬，也不要做尘埃I would rather be a superb meteor,我愿做一颗华丽的流星every atom of me in magnificent glow,愿我的每一颗星都闪现那动人的光辉than a sleepy and permanent planet.而不做那沉默永远不灭的光辉。,
