作品背景：伦敦所处的时代，由于工业革命，美国经济飞速发展，社会结构发生重大改变。同时也导致了贫富差距的加大。社会底层人民梦想致富并挤入上流社会，而富人又渴望更多的财富。这样人人都有自己美好的美国梦并付诸努力去实现。1896年，不计其数的美国淘金者涌入阿拉斯加，伦敦和他的哥哥也在其中。他们希望能迅速致富。在这个庞大的淘金大军中，只有五千人进人到矿区，只有一千人实现淘金梦平安归来。19世纪后半期到20世纪初，欧美资本主义国家进入垄断资本主义时期。这使得人民失去了乐观向上精神，叔本华和尼采的学说广泛传播。尼采的超人哲学影响最为深远。杰克·伦敦的《热爱生命》就深受这种学说的影响。当时美国文坛“世纪末文学”的潮流正流行，这股潮流专注于死亡、病态，加重了社会的悲观厌世情绪。
When he awakened he was cold and sick.There was no sun. The gray of earth and sky had become deeper.
A cold wind was blowing and snow was whitening the hilltops. The air about him grew white with snow as he made a fire and boiled more water.
But it was wet snow, half rain. At first it melted as soon as it hit the earth. But it continued falling, covering the ground and destroying his fire.
This was a signal for him to put his pack on his back and struggle forward, he knew not where.
He was not concerned with the land of little sticks, nor with Bill and the cache under the up turned boat by the river Dease.
He was mad because of hunger. He did not notice the course he followed, except that it led him through the bottoms of the valleys.
He felt his way through the wet snow to the watery muskeg berries, and was guided by touch as he pulled up the grass by the roots.
But it had no taste and did not satisfy his hunger.
He had no fire that night, nor hot water.He pulled his blanket around him to sleep the broken sleep of hunger.
The snow became a cold rain. He awakened many times to feel it falling on his upturned face.
Day came. It was a gray day with no sun. It had ceased raining. The sharpness of his hunger had departed.
There was a dull pain in his stomach, but it did not trouble him so much. He was more in control of himself.
And once again he was interested in the land of little sticks and the cache by the river Dease.
He cut the remains of one of his blankets into strips and bound his bleeding feet.
He used one of the strips on his swelled ankle and prepared himself for a day of travel.
When he was ready to pick up his pack, he paused long before deciding to keep the moose-skin bag, but when he departed,it went with him.
The snow had melted under the rain, and only the hilltops showed white. The sun appeared and he succeeded in locating the way he had been traveling.
But now he knew that he was lost. Perhaps he had wandered too far to the left. He now turned to the right to return to his true course.
Although the hunger pains were not as great as they had been, he realized that he was weak.
He was forced to pause for frequent rests.At those times he ate the muskeg berries and grasses. His tongue felt dry and large and it tasted bitter in his mouth.
His heart troubled him very much. When he had traveled a few minutes, it would begin pounding. Then it would leap in a series of beats that made him feel faint.
In the middle of the day he found two small fish in a large pool. It was impossible to empty it. But he was calmer now and he managed to catch them.
醒来时，他又冷又难受。天上没有太阳。灰蒙蒙的大地和天空变得愈来愈阴沉。
寒风凛冽，白雪覆盖了山顶。随着雪花飘落，他周围的空气愈来愈白，这时，他已经升起火，又烧了一罐开水。
天上下的一半是雨，一半是雪。起初，一落到地面就熔化了，但后来越下越多，盖满了地面，淋熄了火。
这是提醒着他，得背起包袱，继续向前，但他不知道往哪儿走。
他既不关心小棍子地，也不关心比尔和狄斯河边那条翻过来的独木舟下的地窖。
他饿疯了。他根本不管他走的是什么路，只要能走出这个谷底就成。
他在湿雪里摸索着，走到湿漉漉的沼地浆果那儿，接着又一面连根拔着草，一面试探着前进。
不过这东西既没有味，又不能把肚子填饱。
那天晚上他没有生火，也没有烧热水。他把毯子裹在身上睡了一觉，而且常常饿醒。
雪已经变成了冰冷的雨。他觉得雨落在他仰着的脸上，给淋醒了好多次。
天亮了，又是灰蒙蒙的一天，没有太阳。雨已经停了。刀绞一样的饥饿感觉也消失了。
他的胃隐隐作痛，但并不怎么难受。他的脑子已经比较清醒。
他又一心一意地想着“小棍子地”和狄斯河边的地窖了。
他把撕剩的那条毯子扯成一条条的，裹好那双鲜血淋淋的脚。
同时把肿胀的脚踝重新捆紧，为这一天的旅行做好准备。
等到收拾包袱的时候，他对着那个厚实的鹿皮口袋想了很久，但最后还是把它随身带着。
雪已经被雨淋化了，只有山顶是白色的。太阳出来了，他成功地找到了他前行的方向。
但现在他知道他迷路了。他也许走得过分偏左了。他现在向右走，回到他正确的路线上去了。
虽然饥饿感没有以前那么强烈了，但他意识到自己很虚弱。
他不得不经常停下来休息。这时候，他就吃沼地浆果和草。他觉得他的舌头很干燥，浮肿，含在嘴里发苦。
他的心脏给他添了很多麻烦。他每走几分钟，心里就会猛烈地怦怦地跳一阵，然后变成一种迅速猛跳，这使他头昏眼花。
中午，他在一个大池塘里发现了两条小鱼。把坑里的水舀干是不可能的。但他现在头脑清醒多了，他成功地抓到了它们