Jack London1 essays

Jack London1 essays One is led to believe that if a person is an author, then that person would have the best education that is available to them. However, this is not the case for Jack London. He dropped out of school at the age of fourteen and explored San Francisco, stole oysters, worked for the government, went to Japan, and traveled around the United States by hitching rides on freight trains. This is just a list of the few things he did during the five-year period while he did not attend school. He then returned and finished high school at the age of nineteen to continue onto the University of California at Berkeley, only to quit after one semester. Yet, he is described by Howard Lacchtman, as a born teller of tales (Lundberg 1). Flora Wellman gave birth to Jack London on January 12, 1876 in San Francisco, California. Flora Wellman was an unmarried woman who came from a very wealthy background. Jack Londons father, an astrologer who was very nomadic, deserted him and his mother when Jack London was born. Jack London received his last name from his stepfather who married his mother late in the year of 1876. John London, Flora Wellman, and Jack London moved to Oakland, California in 1886 where Jack London spent his childhood years. It is said that London was a frequent visitor of the Oakland Public Library and loved to read at an early age. Yet, because of the hard times, he always helped support his family by delivering newspapers, sweeping saloon floors, setting up pins in a bowling alley and working at other jobs (Port of Oakland). At the age of fourteen, Jack London decided to quit school to escape poverty and gain adventure (Britannica.com Inc.). He did a number of things in the five-year period while he escaped from school. He pirated for oysters on the San Francisco Bay, worked to capture poachers on fish patrols, and sailed all around the Pacific Ocean on a sailing ship. He also "...