The Son of the Wolf
1914
The Son of the Wolf, published in 1914 by Jack London, is a collection of short stories set during the Klondike Gold Rush. It vividly portrays the harsh realities of life in the Yukon Territory, exploring themes of survival, nature, and human relationships amidst extreme conditions. The stories feature a diverse cast of characters, including adventurers and indigenous peoples, navigating the unforgiving landscape and the complexities of their interactions. Notable for its depiction of the physical and emotional trials faced by its characters, this collection highlights the struggle for survival in a treacherous environment.
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“In London the slaughter of the innocents goes on on a scale more stupendous than any before in the history of the world. And equally stupendous is the callousness of the people who believe in Christ, acknowledge God, and go to church regularly on Sunday. For the rest of the week they riot about on the rents and profits which come to them from the East End stained with the blood of the children. Also, at times, so peculiarly are they made, they will take half a million of these rents and profits and send it away to educate the black boys of the Soudan.””
— Jack London
“Hare-Lip sniffed and sneered and Hoo-Hoo snickered, until Edwin nudged them to be silent.””
— Jack London
“Youth which lives by hope is riven by unrest.””
— Jack London
“The Church does not protest against it,” Ernest replied. “And in so far as the Church does not protest, it condones, for remember the Church is supported by the capitalist class.””
— Jack London
“With the aurora borealis flaming coldly overhead, or the stars leaping in the frost dance, and the land numb and frozen under its pall of snow, this song of the huskies might have been the defiance of life, only it was pitched in minor key, with long-drawn wailings and half-sobs, and was more the pleading of life, the articulate travail of existence. It was an old song, old as the breed itself”
— Jack London
“It was all well enough in the Southland, under the law of love and fellowship, to respect private property and personal feelings; but in the Northland, under the law of club and fang, whoso took such things into account was a fool, and in so far as he observed them he would fail to prosper.””
— Jack London
“Steward, Daughtry. Mr. Daughtry, friend, sir, or whatever I may name you, this is no fairy-story of the open boat, the cross-bearings unnamable, and the treasure a fathom under the sand. This is real. I have a heart. That, sir””
— Jack London
“When you reach out your vaunted strong hands for our palaces and purpled ease, we will show you what strength is. In roar of shell and shrapnel and in whine of machine-guns will our answer be couched.* We will grind you revolutionists down under our heel, and we shall walk upon your faces. The world is ours, we are its lords, and ours it shall remain. As for the host of labor, it has been in the dirt since history began, and I read history aright. And in the dirt it shall remain so long as I and mine and those that come after us have the power. There is the word. It is the king of words”
— Jack London
“In face of the facts that modern man lives more wretchedly than the cave-man, and that his producing power is a thousand times greater than that of the cave-man, no other conclusion is possible than that the capitalist class has mismanaged, that you have mismanaged, my masters, that you have criminally and selfishly mismanaged.””
— Jack London
