London’s purpose and theme is timeless and classic. Its reality is inescapable. One could argue, correctly even, that if the man had been more prepared and more trained, that he could have survived this ordeal and lived to fight another day. That would miss the point of this story entirely. It was not a tale of warning against going into the wilderness ill prepared. It was a metaphor for what we all will face in life. That, to be succinct, is that we will all die. We all will have to go into death alone. We will all suffer in the end to the mercy of nature. This is not said to be morbid or terrifying. It is written as a testament that we all are in this together. Those that struggle against this fact are always in a strain. They are always, just like the man in the story, struggling with trying to find meaning in their existence through futile and impotent attempts to defeat death. London shows us through this story that just existing is the meaning of existence. There is no grand goal to be had. To put a finer point on it, whether it is through your own mistakes or through the ravages of nature, existence is temporary. Live each day as if it were your last. 

