Jack-London杰克伦敦及其作品介绍

JackLondonLifeexperience•Born:January12,1876•SanFrancisco,California,US•Died:November22,1916•Aged40•OldnameJohnGriffithChaney•Oysterpirate(13)•Hadamistressaged16(15)•Sailor(17)•Worker•Tramp•AdmittedtotheUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley(20,forcedtoleaveduetofinancialcircumstancesthenextyear)•KlondikeGoldRush(21)•thesettingforsomeofhisfirstsuccessfulstories•Asocialconscienceandsocialistleanings;hereturnedtobecomeanactivistforsocialism•Heconcludedthathisonlyhopeofescapingtheworktrapwastogetaneducationandsellhisbrains.•Hesawhiswritingasabusiness,histicketoutofpoverty,and,hehoped,ameansofbeatingthewealthyattheirowngame.Literaryposition•Americanauthor,journalist,andsocialactivist•Oneofthefirstfictionwriterstoobtainworldwidecelebrityandalargefortunefromhisfictionalone•Apioneerinthethen-burgeoningworldofcommercialmagazinefiction•Influenceonlaterwriters,suchas,Hemingway,GeorgeOrwellViews•Atheism•“IbelievethatwhenIamdead,Iamdead.IbelievethatwithmydeathIamjustasmuchobliterated(彻底毁灭的)asthelastmosquitoyouandIsquashed.”•Socialism•wrotefromasocialistviewpoint•(TheIronHeel1984)•London'ssocialismgrewoutofhislifeexperience•(HowIBecameaSocialist)•JoinedtheSocialistLaborPartyin1896•JoinedtheSocialistPartyofAmericain1901•TheWaroftheClasses(1905)•Revolution,andotherEssays(1906)Works•Shortstorycollections(21)•Novels(23)•Autobiographicalmemoirs(2)•Non-fictionandessays(23)•Plays(3)•Poetry(45)Shortstories•WesternwriterandhistorianDaleL.Walkerwrites:“London'struemétierwastheshortstory...London'struegeniuslayintheshortform,7,500wordsandunder,wherethefloodofimagesinhisteemingbrainandtheinnatepowerofhisnarrativegiftwereatonceconstrainedandfreed.”•ToBuildaFire(1902),bestknown•Loveoflife•Sciencefiction•TheUnparalleledInvasiondescribesgermwarfareagainstChinaNovels•Humanbeingsinnature•TheCalloftheWild(1903)•TheSea-Wolf(1904)•WhiteFang(1906)•Humanbeingsinthecity•TheIronHeel(1908)•MartinEden(1909)TheCalloftheWild•Genre:Adventurenovel,Animalfiction•ThestoryissetintheYukonduringthe19th-centuryKlondikeGoldRush—aperiodwhenstrongsleddogswereinhighdemand.Centralcharacter•Buck•AdomesticateddoglivingataranchinCaliforniaasthestoryopens•StolenfromhishomeandsoldintothebrutalexistenceofanAlaskansleddog•Forcedtoadjustto,andsurvive,crueltreatments•Tofighttodominateotherdogsinaharshclimate•Eventuallyheshedstheveneerofcivilization,relyingonprimordial(原始的)instinctsthroughlessonshelearns,toemergeasaleaderinthewild.•Herevertstoatavistic(返祖现象的)traits.•Thelawofclubandfang•大棒与獠牙法则•Themanintheredsweater•ThisfirsttheftmarkedBuckasfittosurviveinthehostileNorthlandenvironment.Itmarkedhisadaptability,hiscapacitytoadjusthimselftochangingconditions,thelackofwhichwouldhavemeantswiftandterribledeath.Itmarked,further,thedecayorgoingtopiecesofhismoralnature,avainthingandahandicapintheruthlessstruggleforexistence.ItwasallwellenoughintheSouthland,underthelawofloveandfellowship,torespectprivatepropertyandpersonalfeelings;butintheNorthland,underthelawofclubandfang,whosotooksuchthingsintoaccountwasafool,andinsofarasheobservedthemhewouldfailtoprosper.•InfluencedbyÉmileZola•heredityversusenvironment•Americanpastoralism•aprevailingthemeinAmericanliterature—inwhichthemythicheroreturnstonatureThemes•Theprimarythemeofthestoryisofsurvivalandareturntoprimitivism.•basedonDarwin'sconceptofsurvivalofthefittest•Bucksymbolizesareactionagainstindustrializationandsocialconventionwithareturntonature.Writingstyle•Symbolismandimagery(意象)•Inthefirstphase,journeyandself-discovery,showsphysicalviolence,withstrongimagesofpainandblood.•InthesecondphasefatiguebecomesadominantimageanddeathisadominantsymbolasBuckcomesclosetobeingkilled.•Thethirdphaseshowsaperiodofrenewalandrebirthandtakesplaceinthespring.•Thefourthphaseofrevertingtonatureisplacedinavastandweirdatmosphere,aplaceofpureemptiness.•Thesettingisallegorical:thesouthrepresentsthesoft,materialisticworld;thenorthsymbolizesaworldbeyondcivilizationandisinherentlycompetitive.•Theharshness,brutality,andemptinessinAlaskareducelifetoitsessence.•Thecharacterstooaresymbolicoftypes.•Charles,HalandMercedessymbolizevanityandignorance,whileThorntonandhiscompanionsrepresentloyalty,purity,andlove.•Muchoftheimageryisstarkandsimplewithanemphasisonimagesofcold,snow,ice,darkness,meat,andblood.•Londonvariedhisprosestyletoreflecttheaction.•Hewroteinanover-affectedstyleinhisdescriptionsofCharles,Hal,andMercedes'campasareflectionoftheirintrusioninthewilderness.•ConverselywhendescribingBuckandhisactions,Londonwroteinastylethatwaspareddown(精简的)andsimple—astylethatwouldinfluenceandbetheforebearofHemingway'sstyle.TheSea-Wolf•LikeTheCalloftheWild,TheSeaWolftellsthestoryofasoft,domesticatedprotagonist,inthisnovel'scaseanintellectualmannamedHumphreyvanWeyden,forcedtobecometoughandself-reliantbyexposuretocrueltyandbrutality.•WolfLarsenisthecaptainofaseal-huntingschooner,theGhost.•Brutalandcynical,yetalsohighlyintelligentandintellectual(thoughhighlybiasedinhisopinions,ashewasself-taught),herulesoverhisshipandterrorizesthecrewwiththeaidofhisexceptionallygreatphysicalstrength.•Lar