This is said to be the law of nature as stated in Jack London"s novel, White Fang. It is a law, which is very simple, both in words and in meaning. If every living thing abided by this rule, then obviously only the strongest would survive. This is a theory proposed by English philosopher Herbert Spencer and is also a theory in which Jack London had a great belief (Sciambra). One of the main focuses in London"s writing is the survival of the strongest beings driven by the primitive desire to live. London shows this belief in many of his novels and short stories, however it is most apparent in those involving strong animals and brutal men. Within these novels, London illustrates this theory of the survival of the fittest through the forces of nature, animals, and through mankind.

             The first way which London portrays this theory is through the forces of nature in the novel, The Sea Wolf. One of the main characters in the novel is a vicious man named Wolf Larsen. He is a massive man who is smarter, stronger and faster than any other man in the world. London seems to use Wolf Larsen to bring some of his own opinions and ideas to the reader. The following quote definitely proves that London believed in the survival of the fittest. Wolf Larsen is talking about the forces of nature when he says: "Life? Bah! It has no value. Of cheap things, it is the cheapest. Nature spills it out with a lavish hand. Where there is room for one life, she sows a thousand lives and its life eats .

             life till only the strongest and most piggish life is left" (68). This quote means that only the strongest will survive, whether it is human, animal, or plant. Take for example, two saplings striving to grow in the middle of a dense forest. If one happens to be slightly bigger or stronger than the other, it will smother the smaller one until it can no longer sustain itself. The weaker tree will eventually be starved for sunlight and food and will soon die off, leaving the strong tree to flourish in the forest and perhaps snuff the life out of many other things in its surroundings.