1. Introduction

1.1 Research background

John Griffith London (1876#8211;1916), also named Jack London, is a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide fame and a large fortune from his fiction alone. London is part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of unionization, socialism, and the rights of workers. He writes several powerful works mostly featured with socialism and individualism. As a result of the sadness of his early experiences, most of his works describe the stories of the low class in the United States, thus exposing the evil and ugliness of the capital society.

The Call of the Wild, Jack London's most famous novel, revolves around the social prevailing gold rush. The novel describes the great struggle a dog performed in the particular environment. It is a process that the main "hero" Buck from civilized human society goes back to the primitive life--- wolves#8217; group. Touched by the cruel reality due to the influence of human civilization, Buck returns to natural instincts and awareness. Therefore, The Call of the Wild is a story of a dog ”changing#8217; himself into a wolf.

Jack London pours too much ideal and praise on this dog and seems to have a stubborn preference for the wolf. Demonstrably, The Call of the Wild manifests the strong personality of the author himself. In the competition between man and nature, it celebrates the noble quality of bravery and inner power, tenaciousness and love. Jack London loves the wolf. In his view, perhaps civilization is a special kind of barbarism, another form of civilization. His sincere praise for the wolf is a deep reflection of his era when human civilization and human survival circumstances are a big concern.

Jack London#8217; love complex toward the wolf is closely concerned with his experiences. He earned his living as a child labor, salesperson, sailor, worker or panning for gold in Alaska. In Alaska, London found the material that inspired him to write The Call of the Wild. After he suffered from scurvy, he was engaged in writing. London got creative inspirations from all his experiences. So his style is marked with growth surroundings to the extent that he often described himself as a wolf. The wolf he wrote is always brave, wise, unafraid as well as heroic, like a ”superman#8217;. Those amazing adventures and failures taught him that a strong body could be still beaten, while a strong mind would help to be stronger both in flesh and spirit. As for him, the wolf is undoubtedly the strongest in nature. They are ferocious but ambitious, cunning but fearless. To Call for the wolf spirit is to call for a strong vitality and the ideal human civilization, which is the focus of this thesis.

1.2 Need for the study

The entire novel seems to tell that it is reasonable to grab interests from others, even grab others#8217; lives, like Buck who tears the head dog up, then standing aside and looking indifferently at everything. People have the common sense that a wolf is full of wildness and ravening. But the wolves in Jack London#8217;s works represent powerful vitality and the pursuit of primitive and fresh life-force. It is the spirit of the wolf as well as the spirit that London wants to advocate.

To some degree, the wolf spirit can positively help shape people#8217;s moral fiber, for vitality, primitiveness and conquering are its essence. On the one hand, the wolf spirit is a deepened embodiment of active performance, beneficial to develop people#8217;s attitudes, value and adaptability to the society. On the other hand, the wolf spirit that reveals the principle of survival of the fittest can matter a lot in workplaces. Furthermore, learning more contributes to the development of a nation, even beneficial to find the balance between human civilization and nature. But the most meaningful thing is that the primitive power manifested through the wolf spirit may arouse the whole nation and inspire the confidence and enterprising spirit of people. In the pursuit of the wolf spirit, people will understand the essence of life.

Some writing techniques in this novel deserve equal attention. Firstly, the themes are conveyed through symbolism and imagery which vary in the different phases of the story. The characters are equally symbolic of types. Much of the imagery is stark and simple with an emphasis on images of cold, snow, ice, darkness, meat, and blood. The story was written as a frontier adventure and in such a way it worked well as a serial. In a word, these writing techniques can help us improve our academic research.