Jack London's Thought Of The Superman: A Reappraisal

Among many philosophies Jack London admired, Nietzsche's philosophy influenced him greatly and became a driving force to stimulate him to create arts and transcend himself continuously. However, London's thought of the superman has always been misunderstood. If we want to understand it more accurately, we must, firstly, associate Jack London with the historical background he accepted Nietzsche and his philosophy; secondly, treat London's writing systematically and wholly; and thirdly and lastly, analyze London's public proclamation and the information that his works contain more objectively. Nietzsche advocated the philosophy that a person should gradually reevaluate the values and transcend oneself through exerting the will to live and to power, which is the major theme of his superman philosophy. Clearly, Nietzsche's superman philosophy is a type of optimistic view of life but it has always been misunderstood as preaching hero worships and egocentrism. When Nietzsche's philosophy was spread into America, it was awfully misread. Living in such an intellectual environment, London was of course misguided although he was an initiative reader and writer. He also misunderstood Nietzsche and his philosophy to some extent. In his works, he consciously attacked and criticized the misconception of Nietzsche's superman philosophy in America, which unconsciously led his thoughts closer to Nietzsche's. London's attitudes towards the superman philosophy underwent three different changes from positiveness to negation to positiveness. The paper will mainly focus on the argument by analyzing some specific works of Jack London. We may come to know that London consciously attacked the misconception of superman philosophy by portraying a series of heroes and unconsciously made his thoughts closer to actual Nietzsche's superman philosophy. Probably, London himself didn't realize the point. London himself proclaimed in public that he was both fond of Nietzsche's superman philosophy and tired of it, but critics always don't agree with him and think that London's words couldn't match his actions. This is the result of misreading Jack London.