In conclusion, London seamlessly crafts two apparently contradictory themes within

the same story. He postulates that nature has but one purpose for man: perpetuation of
life, yet,
in opposition to this first theme, he clearly claims that nature has one and only one
unavoidable
end in store for every man: death. London creates this apparent dichotomy, however,
merely to
establish his final conclusion all the more powerfully, a conclusion that he weaves very
subtly
beneath the more apparent themes of life and death. London harmonizes these opposing
themes
by concluding that nature rules, both in life and in death. Nature has the first say and the
last.
Man has but to accept his destiny at the hands of this awful and beautiful force. This is
the law
of life.
Works Cited
Berkove, Lawrence I. "Jack London's 'Second Thoughts'." Jack London: One Hundred
Years a
Writer. Ed. Sara S. Hodson and Jeanne Campbell Reesman. Vol. 133. San Marino:
Huntington Library Press, 2002. 60-76. Cengage Learning. 17 March 2015.
London, Jack. "The Law of Life." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed.
Nina
Baym and Robert S. Levine. Vol. C. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2012.
1043-1047. Print.
Palavali, Vivekanand. "Loving Life While Accepting Death." The Humanist 66.4 (2006):
37-
39. Web. 17 March 2015.
Zhang, Xiaofen. "On the Influence of Naturalism on American Literature." English
Language
Teaching 3.2 (2010): 195-198. Web. 24 March 2015.s.