在《热爱生命》中，他将主人公置于险恶的北疆环境之中，面对严酷的现实：饥饿和死亡，让他明白自然力的强大和自身的渺小和脆弱。然而，伦敦总是不甘就范，不把自己限定在严格定义的自然主义框架之中，他将“现实主义的唯物论结合于对外部世界的表现中，将浪漫的理想主义结合于主观的人。”他赋予《热爱生命》中的淘金者正视严酷现实的勇气、战胜逆境的坚强意志以及成为强者超人的英维气摄，最终在同北疆荒原、伤残、饥饿、死亡的斗争中，赢得了生存的权利，成为自然的强者。因此，《热爱生命》不应是一部单一的纯自然主义作品，而是自然主义和浪漫主义的有机融合，这是小说艺术力量之所在，也是其经久不衰的真正原因之一。
They were no bigger than his little finger,but now he was not particularly hungry. The dull pain in his stomach had been growing duller.
It almost seemed that his stomach was asleep. He ate the fish with great care.
The eating was an act of pure reason. Although he had no desire to eat, he knew that he must eat to live.
In the evening he caught three more small fish, eating two and saving the third for breakfast.
The sun had dried the wet plants and he was able to build a fire.
He had not traveled more than ten miles that day. The next day, traveling whenever his heart permitted, he went no more than five miles.
But his stomach did not give him any pain.It seemed to be sleeping.
He was now in a strange country, too, and the caribou were becoming more plentiful.
There were wolves also. Their howls could be heard across the land, and once he saw three of them crossing his path.
Another night passed. And in the morning,being more reasonable, he untied the leather string that held the moose-skin bag.
From its open mouth poured a yellow stream of gold dust. He divided the gold into two equal parts.
One half, wrapped in a piece of a blanket,he hid among a large formation of rocks. The other half he returned to the bag.
He also began to use strips of the one remaining blanket for his feet. He still kept his gun, because there were cartridges in that cache by the river Dease.
This was a cloudy day, and this day hunger waked in him again. He was very weak. It was no uncommon thing now for him to fall.
Once he fell into a bird's nest. There were four tiny birds, a day or so old, no more than a mouthful. He ate them greedily, putting them alive into his mouth and crushing them like egg shells between his teeth.
The mother bird flew about him with cries of anger. He used his gun as a club with which to hit her, but she flew beyond his reach.
He threw stones at her and by chance, one broke a wing. Then she ran away, dragging the broken wing, with him following her.
The little birds had not satisfied his hunger. He jumped along on his painful ankle, throwing stones and screaming loudly at times.
At other times, he struggled along silently, picking himself up patiently when he fell, or rubbing his eyes with his hand when faintness threatened to over power him.
The bird led him across some wet ground in the bottom of the valley. He discovered foot prints in the wet grasses.
They were not his own. He could see that.
They must be Bill's. But he could not stop,because the mother bird was running ahead. He would catch her first. Then he would return and examine the footprints.
He tired the mother bird; but he tired himself also. She lay on her side breathing heavily. He lay on his side, adozen feet away, unable to move toward her.
And as he recovered, she recovered. She flew beyond reach as his hungry hand stretched out to catch her. The hunt started again.
Night darkened and she escaped. He fell because of weakness, cutting his face.
He did not move for a long time; then he rolled on his side. He wound his watch and lay there until morning.
它们只有他的小指头那么长，但是他现在并不觉得特别饿。胃里的隐痛已经愈发感觉不到了。
他的胃好像睡着了。他小心翼翼地吃下了鱼。
吃东西是纯粹理性的行为。虽然他不想吃，但他知道他必须吃才能活下去。
晚上，他又抓了三条小鱼，吃了两条，把第三条留作早餐。
太阳晒干了潮湿的植物，他能够生火了。
那天他走的路还不到十英里。第二天，只要心脏许可，他就往前走，走了不到五英里。
但是他的胃一点也不疼。它好像在睡觉。
他现在也到了一个陌生的国度，驯鹿也越来越多了。
还有狼。他们的吼声响彻整个大地，有一天，他还瞧见了三只狼在他前面的路上穿过。
又过了一夜，到了早晨，因为头脑比较清醒，他就解开系鹿皮口袋的皮绳，
从袋口倒出一股黄色的金粉。他把金子分成两等份。
其中一半包在一块毯子里，藏在一大堆岩石中间。另一半装回口袋里。
同时，他又从剩下的那条毯子上撕下几条，用来裹脚。他仍然留着他的枪，因为狄斯河边的地窖里有子弹。
这是一个阴天，这一天，他又有了饿的感觉。他的身体非常虚弱，摔跤已经是家常便饭了。
有一次他摔进了一个鸟巢。里面有四只小鸟，大约有一天大了，只够吃一口。他狼吞虎咽，把它们活活塞到嘴里，像嚼蛋壳似地吃起来。
鸟妈妈在他周围愤怒地叫着。他用枪当棍棒打她，但她飞到了他够不着的地方。
他投石子打它，碰巧打伤了它的一个翅膀。鸟拍击着受伤的翅膀逃开了，他就在后面追赶。
小鸟没有满足他的胃口。他用他有伤的脚踝跳着，不时扔石头，大声尖叫。
有时候，他只是一瘸一拐，不声不响地追着，摔倒了就咬着牙、耐心地爬起来，或者在头晕得支持不住的时候用手揉揉眼睛。
这么一追，鸟竟然令他穿过了谷底的沼地，发现了潮湿苔癣上的一些脚印。
这不是他自己的脚印。他看得出来。
一定是比尔的。不过他不能停下，因为鸟正在向前跑。他得先把它捉住，然后再回来察看。
鸟给追得精疲力尽；可是他自己也累坏了。它倒在地上喘个不停，他也倒在地上喘个不停，只隔着十来尺，然而没有力气爬过去。
等到他恢复过来，它也恢复过来了，当他饥饿的手伸出来抓时，它已经飞得够不着了。狩猎又开始了。
天黑了，它终于逃掉了。他因软弱无力而跌倒，划破了脸。
他一动不动地过了好久，后来才翻过身，上好表，在那儿一直躺到早晨。
