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Education and Personal Development in Martin Eden

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Education and Personal Development in Martin Eden MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature Education and Personal Development in Martin Eden Bachelor Thesis Brno 2021 Supervisor: Mgr. Zuzana Kršková, Ph.D. Author: Terezie Ďáskova Bibliographical record Ďáskova, Terezie. Education and Personal Development in Martin Eden: bachelor thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of English Language and Literature, 2021. 46 pages. The supervisor of the bachelor thesis: Mgr. Zuzana Kršková, Ph.D. Bibliografický záznam Ďáskova, Terezie. Education and Personal Development in Martin Eden: bakalářská práce. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Pedagogická fakulta, Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury, 2021. 46 s. Vedoucí bakalářské práce: Mgr. Zuzana Kršková, Ph.D. Abstract The thesis aims to provide a literary analysis focusing on education and self- development of the working and middle social classes of the United States in the early 20th century. The underpinning source for examining these processes is the novel Martin Eden written by American author Jack London in 1909. In the perspective of the historical and social background, the work investigates the differences in the educational environments, motivations, approaches, and methods between the book's two main characters, a young sailor Martin Eden and Ruth Morse, a girl of the bourgeois family. Further, it compares their realised learning, utilisation of education in their future lives and personal development. The work suggests that Martin Eden's self-studying was a far more complex and creative process than the formal educational methods in the early 20th century when American universities taught the students to adopt propositions and conventional standards rather than think critically and develop their talents. Thus, the formal education made them unable to use their intelligence effectively in real-life situations and utilise their realised education. Anotace Tato práce si klade za cíl poskytnout literární analýzu zaměřenou na vzdělávání a osobnostní rozvoj pracující a střední sociální třídy ve Spojených státech amerických na počátku 20. století. Zdrojem pro zkoumání těchto procesů je román Martin Eden amerického autora Jacka Londona z roku 1909. S ohledem na historický a společenský kontext práce zkoumá rozdíly ve vzdělávacím prostředí, motivaci, přístupech ke vzdělání a vzdělávacích metodách hlavních postav románu, mladého námořníka Martina Edena a Ruth Morse, dívky z buržoazní rodiny. Dále porovnává jejich realizované vzdělání, využití vzdělání v jejich budoucích životech a osobní rozvoj. Práce naznačuje, že samostudium Martina Edena bylo mnohem složitějším a kreativnějším procesem než formální vzdělávací metody na počátku 20. století, kdy americké univerzity učily své studenty přejímání tezí a standardů, spíše než kritickému myšlení a rozvíjení svých dovedností. Formální vzdělávání tak znemožňovalo efektivní využití inteligence v reálných životních situacích a využití uskutečněného vzdělání. Keywords Jack London, Martin Eden, Education, Formal Education, Self-Education, Personal Development, Social Classes, USA Klíčová slova Jack London, Martin Eden, Education, Formal Education, Self-Education, Personal Development, Social Classes, USA Acknowledgment First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor, Mgr. Zuzana Kršková, Ph.D. for her guidance through each stage of the process of writing this thesis and for her patience with me. Also, I thank my family for believing in me and being supportive throughout my studies. Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this bachelor thesis and that I have used only the sources listed in the bibliography and identified as references. Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů a zdrojů uvedených v seznamu literatury v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů. In Brno, 10 Apríl 2021 Terezie Ďáskova Table of Contents 1. Introduction 8 2. Literary Context 10 3. Historical and Social Background 12 3.1 American Society 12 3.2 San Francisco 13 3.3 Public Education in America 14 3.4 Co-Education at American Universities and Colleges 15 4. Jack London's Education and Working Experience Reflected in Martin Eden 18 5. Plot Summary and Main Themes in Martin Eden 23 5.1 Plot Summary 23 5.2 Main Themes 25 5.2.1 Social Classes 25 5.2.2 Individualism vs Socialism 26 5.2.3 Effects of Industrialization on Society 27 6. Description of the Main Protagonists 28 7. Educational Environment, Experience and Opportunities of the Main Protagonists 31 8. Approaches to Education, Motivation and Educational Methods of the Main Protagonists 33 9. Achievements in Education and Personal Development of the Main Protagonists 39 10. Conclusion 43 11. List of References 45 7 1. Introduction London's semi-autobiographic novel Martin Eden has been often interpreted only in the context of London's personal political beliefs. However, he does not propagate socialism in the novel in any way, nor does he provide any more detailed views on the ideology. Yet, Martin Eden became a source and proof for many essays and articles revolving about London as a socialist and capitalist solid opponent. The fact that London himself claimed that he wrote Martin Eden as a criticism to individualism did not help to stop producing lengthy and one-way opinionated and themed texts that utterly omitted to address one of the most powerful topics of the book, which captures a complex and arduous journey of a man to education as the means of self-improvement. In the novel, London examines the hostile world of American society of the early 20th century, which was full of prejudice and doubts about people of the labouring class, their intelligence, and capability to be educated. Nevertheless, Martin Eden should instead be read as a message of motivation, perseverance, and unwavering diligence that a man is willing to invest in himself. The message of hindrances and wrongs a man is enduring to achieve his goals. The message that a man's pure desire and hunger for knowledge can exceed the standard criteria of formal education and surpass those who stubbornly insist on a dogmatic interpretation of what being educated means. Should the meaning of the main protagonist's name be considered, the analogy of Martin Eden to a biblical story of Adam and Eve suggests that education is a central motive of the whole novel. For Martin, education is truly a forbidden fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil as described in the Bible. Once Martin Eden tastes the fruit of knowledge and reveals its power, just like Adam, he inevitably leaves his previous life of blissful ignorance with no chance of coming back. Ruth and Eve alike could be recognized as the initial motive and a driving force, making Martin-Adam crave for knowledge. They both tempted and lured the men into the point of no return, the moment that changed their lives for good. For both Martin and Adam, the breaking point with fatal consequences is gaining wisdom that opens their eyes. This thesis explores in-depth the topic of education portrayed in the novel and analyses the aspects of paramount importance on Martin Eden's education, such as social background, learning environment, or educational methods that led him to his wished-for success. A contrasting element for this examination is the character of Ruth Morse, the 8 determining factors of her formal education, and the influence of her social station that paradoxically does not support her to develop as a person but rather forces her to conform to the conventions of her class. 9 2. Literary Context From the view of literary context, the novel Martin Eden can be identified as a realistic novel by its themes, as well as form. Typically for American realism, London addresses the issues of being a white male descending from the working class and pictures the urban environment of America. In the novel, London presents the main protagonist Martin Eden as a white, young, undereducated sailor of humble origin and discovers the contrasts of his character, environment and opportunities to those of Ruth Morse, a young woman of the bourgeois family and a student of Berkley University. The novel is set in Oakland and San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century and accurately illustrates the ambience of the society, showing its disparity in family background and education as the preconditions for occupation and social status. Similarly to his contemporary European writers representing Fin de siecle1, London perceives contradictory promises of economic and industrial expansion while realising decadence of the society. In the novel, the author analyses and criticises the intellectual and moral values, the hypocrisy of the middle social class, contrasting it with daily toil and working and living conditions of the labouring class. London provides close observation of the society, portraying characters in detail to capture their socially accurate dialects, attitudes and manners. Also, he draws a picture of the bourgeois family of the Morses who perceives the education and profession as the means to live up to expectations coming from their social status, and describes the middle class with its blindness and indifference to the suffering of the society, comparing them with the characters representing
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