Jack London, White Fang

Susan Gatti (Indiana University of Pennsylvania)

Ed. by Christopher Hugh Gair, University of Glasgow
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.3: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Patrick Chura (University of Akron), J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1906

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Jack London published White Fang in 1906. By that time, the author was firmly established as a productive, popular literary figure. Previous bestsellers, like The Call of the Wild (1903) and The Sea Wolf (1905), had secured London’s reputation as a writer of best-selling adventure fiction, and London was well on his way to attaining million-dollar status as a professional writer. But, between 1905 and 1910, London’s political and philosophical interests were driving him toward more politically-focused literary productions. In this mid-career phase, London channeled his socialist convictions into such texts as The Road (1907), The Iron Heel (1908), and Martin Eden (1909).

Some critics scored London for resorting to old “survival of the fittest” formulas (81). But, for London, White Fang was an important antithetical “companion” to The Call of the Wild. London was...

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2461 words

Citation: Gatti, Susan. "White Fang". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 April 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8770, accessed 09 June 2026.]

Jack London, White Fang

Dates

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