Jack London, an American author known for his thrilling adventure stories, showed the world that even an exciting story set in an exotic setting can include all the intricacies of great literature. This is seen in many of his stories with the implementation of symbolism, an often recurring theme in his work. Additionally, London used many ideas of the time such as Darwinism and Spencerism in his writings in order to better portray his views. However, perhaps one of the most telling signs that London was writing good literature was London's mastery of an emerging literary movement known as naturalism. As seen in a multitude of London's works, symbolism plays a major role in his writings. One of London's greatest works of short fiction, "To Build a Fire" is an excellent example of this inclusion of literary technique which is so crucial in so many of London's greatest stories. In this story, fire is a major symbol, symbolizing life in a cold world, the icy Klondike. This symbol helps London show its belief that to survive in the wild, you need nature. This is a recurring symbol/theme in London's work, also appearing in "Law of Life". Here, an old Native American must master fire to survive the harshness of nature. When the old man's fire finally expires, as happens in "To Build a Fire", so does the old man's life (Hamilton). Along with the use of fire as a symbol in many of his stories, London uses the symbolic dog in the majority of his stories, including "To Build a Fire", "Law of Life", Call of the Wild and White Fang among many other stories. In all of these stories, some kind of dog, whether dog or wolf, appears, thus becoming a motif in Jack London's works. London often uses these characters...... middle of paper ...... incorporated into his master works the literary element known as naturalism and joined other great American authors such as Stephen Crane and Theodore Dreiser in the field of great nature writers. Author of tales such as White Fang and Call of the Wild, Jack London incorporated human facets of literature into his writings that proved that a story could be both exciting and thought-provoking. This was achieved in many ways, such as using symbolism as a driving force behind the highly naturalistic stories produced by London. Additionally, the use of very different intellectual ideas, such as those of Herbert Spencer and Carl Jung, helped maintain London's belief that exotic stories could be great in the world of literature and have their place alongside other great works such as The Adventures of Mark Twain. Blueberry Finn.