Jack London

John Griffith Chaney a.k.a Jack London, was born in San Francisco, California on January 12th, 1876. He was best known for his popular novels and short stories.

When Jack was just 17, his mother entered him into a writing contest, in which he easily won the $25 1st place prize, outwriting students from universities. His writing success did not continue, however, so Jack went north during the Klondike Rush to hunt for gold. At age 22, he had still not made a living, so he turned to writing.

When Jack was 27, he finally found success. His new book, "The Call of the Wild (1903)" which told the story of a dog that finds its place in the world as a sled dog in the Yukon.

He published more than 50 books over the last 16 years of his life. The titles included The People of the Abyss (1903), which offered a scathing critique of capitalism; White Fang (1906), a popular tale about a wild wolf dog becoming domesticated; and John Barleycorn (1913), a memoir of sorts that detailed his lifelong battle with alcohol.

Christopher Johnson McCandless was born February 12, 1968 in El Segundo, California. His parents are Walt McCandless and Wilhelmina Johnson (who was known as Billie) and his sister is Carine.

Chris was a good student with A average grades and he was also a good runner leading a team of cross country runners, but he was very stubborn and strong willed. He would train his cross country team mates hard taking them on practise runs in places where it was easy to get lost. But he saw it as a challenge and saw running as a form of spiritual exercise. An example of his stubbornness was receiving an F for one subject becuase he refused to write the lab report in the particular way that the teacher had asked.

Chris graduated out of highschool in 1986. He then went on a long journey and arrived at Emory just two days before the year began. Chris went on to get exellent grades. He graduated from Emory University in 1990 and after graduation, donated all his remaining education fund (24,000 dollars) to OXFAM, a organization to fight hunger.

After his graduation, he traveled around America wothout telling his family. He ttraveled in his yellow Datsun, which he abandoned after a flash flood. He reached his final destination on April 28, 1992 in Fairbanks Alaska. Four months later he would perish from a combination of errors and his body was found in an abandoned old Fairbanks City Transit Bus numbered 142 which was located on the Stampede Trail.

- Jack London was notorious for being a drunk, and when he did get drunk, he would let loose and go wild, as does Chris McCandless.

-As a child, London had a difficult relationship with his mother, just like Chris had troubles with his dad.

-London, loved to travel, especially by boat. He enjoyed having diggerent experiences in different areas of the world. Chris also loved to travel around, which was shown by his journey after college.

-Similar to Chris, London was fascinated by nature, adn even started his own farm.

-Last, but certainly not least; London and Chris both obviously had a passion for books and literature in general.

Jon Krakauer includes many epigraphs by famous people who were attacehd to the wild. Two of the epigrams included were by Jack London. Preceding Chapter Two, Jack London's epigram highlights the desolate and the isolated northern wilderness. He says, "The dark spruce forest frowned on either side the frozen waterway." Later on, in the same epigram, he says, "The land itself was a desolation, lifeless, without movement, so lone and cold that the spirit of it was not even that of sadness." These quotes form the epigram clearly prove the point Jack London is trying to make, the northern wilderness is a dangerous and lonely place. He concludes by saying, "It was the Wild, the savage, frozen hearted, Northland Wild."

Preceding Chapter 5, another of Jack London's epigraphs appear. He says, "The dominant primordial beast was strong in Buck (a dog, who is also the main character, in "Call of the Wild), and under the fierce condition of trail life, it grew and grew. Yet, it was a secret growth. His new born cunning gave him poise and control. This epigraph mentions that Buck became secretly strong and attached to the wild over time living in the fierce and harsh Yukon. The same happened to Chris, as a he matured and developed his senses and his skill in the wild.

METAPHYSICAL CONNECTION

PHYSICAL CONNECTION

-London and McCandless share a love of nature and originality

-They both dislike the way of a business run society and a world of money

-Both of them wanted to live in the wild in solitude and

they wanted to be one with nature

-They believed the only right way to be with nature was to be by themselves

-They wanted to live off of the land and not have to care about possessions

-"To Build a Fire" is a book written by London that pretty much describes McCandless's life

-Some think this quote by London single handedly inspired McCandless to go on his adventures, "The dominant primordial beast was strong in Buck, and under the fierce conditions of trail life it grew and grew. Yet it was a secret growth. His newborn cunning gave him poise and control."

EPIGRAPHS

CHRIS MCCANDLESS'S BIOGRAPHY

Connection Between Chris McCandless and Jack London

John McKenzie

Jiles' Gober

Alex Tablada

Arshad Shauib

BIBLIOGRAPHY

JACK LONDON BIO

" Jack London." 2012. Biography.com 02 Oct 2012, 09:41 http://www.biography.com/people/jack-london-9385499

"Biography of Jack London (1876-1916)." GradeSaver. N.p., 02 Oct 2012. Web. 2 Oct 2012. <http://www.gradesaver.com/author/jack-london/>.

Seel, John. "When Nature is Not Enough: Review of Into the Wild." Ransom Fellowship. N.p., 2008. Web. 2 Oct 2012. <http://www.ransomfellowship.org/articledetail.asp?AID=460&B=David John Seel, Jr.&TID=2>.

Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York: Random House, Inc., 1996. Print

Read, Adam. "Chris McCandless Bio." Christopher McCandless. N.p., 2o11. Web. 3 Oct 2012. <http://www.christophermccandless.info/bio.html>.