Jack London's superman: the objectification of his life and times Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Kerstiens, Eugene J. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 07/10/2021 19:49:44 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/319012 JACK LONDON'S SUPERMAN: THE OBJECTIFICATION OF HIS LIFE AND TIMES by Eugene J. Kerstiens A Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Graduate College, University of Arizona 1952 Approved: 7 / ^ ^ Director of Thesis date r TABLE OF OOHTEHTB - : ; : ■ ; ; : . ' . : ' _ pag® IHfRODUOTIOS a » 0 0 o o o » , » » * o a c o 0 0 * * o I FiRT I : PHYSICAL FORGES Section I 2 T M Fzontiez Spirit in- Amerioa 0 - <, 4 Section II s The lew Territories „,< . > = 0,> «, o< 11 Section III? The lew Front!@3?s Romance and ' Individualism * 0.00 0 0 = 0 0 0 13 ; Section IV g Jack London? Ohild of the lew ■ ■ '■ Frontier * . , o » ' <, . * , . * , 15 PART II: IDE0DY1AMI0S Section I : Darwinian Survival Values 0 0 0<, 0 33 Section II : Materialistic Monism . , <, » „= „ 0 41 Section III: Racism 0« « „ , * , . » , « , o 54 Section IV % Bietsschean Power Values = = <, , » 60 eoiOLDsioi o 0 , •0 o 0 0. 0o oa. = oo v 0o0 . ?e BiBLIOSRAPHY 0 0 0 o © © © ©© ©© 0 © © © ©© © ©© © S3 li: fi% O A €> Ft . V' ' • , ; . ' IlfiODBGTlOH ' . : ': ; ^ Though extensive sbholarly eritloism of Jaok London1s- , work is not abundant., • definitive and complete biographies of him do exist,- Perhaps writers have found more interesting material in London’s adventurous life than in his stories, Gerta inly none - of.: t he exploits of his ;f i etiona 1. e ha rapt e r s - . surpass,’ for sheer r om an ti eg 1 am our 3. his own triumph over the o - seemingly impossible.'I Ppssibly the lack of scholarship exists because many of London's stories, written hurriedly and -with a money motive, do hot seem to merit criticism,; However two '■ writers have produced serious and detailed studies of London’s work,■: Margaret I, Pope,,in her. Jack London; A Study in Twenti­ eth Century Values» ' has presented a thorough appraisal.-of :t" all of Jack.London’s vrorks, including the novels, short stories, plays and essays , Thi s work'at tempt s to evaluate and class if y. London’s writings and'to determine their significance in Ameri-.. can literary •history. Oharies Child. Walcutt* s ”Haturalism -and th e : Superman in the .Novels of Jack L o n d o n d e a l s with a spe^.- oific problem adequately defined .in.. the title of his study, To-1 these writers a debt is admitted for- the 'valuable aid .their analyses have provided this study, 1,: /Margaret I, Pope, Jack London: A Study,in Twentieth . Century Values (Ph, D , thesis, "University 'of Wisconsin, 19357, 3, Oharies Ghild Walcutt, ’’haturalism .and the Superman in the hovels" of - Jack ..London,11 Papers .of the ^Michigan Academy of: Boience Arts and: Letters ; XXIV: ( iBSAl y RA 1 .• Moat erities-agree that in his primitive and strong- ■minded heroes Jaok hondon was "drawing an aeourate: or.; fancied : image of himseIf" When one Sdrveys the. many biographies of London, the reader is at once aware of the striking similarity ■between London’ s-;adyenturous life and the stories he wrote. His stories are written from the point of view of ant oh i o- graphical romance % and t his prohahly ac o onnt s f or : t he -f ac t that London could successfully portray hut one type of heroic.., charaoter . In all of - his . novels the brutal and u n u s m i ex-: ■ perienees of Lohdon1s life are perceived through the hero, a ■dauntless, confident 'character who always has Jack London1 s handsome.face. Jack London1s .comely muscles and appetite for daring. Throughout his life he continued to-exalt the ad- ; . , venturous .memories of his youth and the self ■“consciousness of his. manliness.. His chief concern Was .to■ s"ee;himSelf; dh; print, . He" could not be duite satisfied that he was real until, he could feed his ambition on this trivial glory, and his egoism matured and concentrated in a desire to see himself externalized in a public, prinfed, ''official self which he could admirs. at his . easeh He tended to view everything as if it were great or heroic, and his novels are remembered for their quality of ex­ ploiting a romantic glorification of strength, bravery and brutality, \ h i \ ': . - ' . : . Any attempt ' to judge jack London's work without taking ' into account his-nature.and the external forces which shaped his life and his work is likely to produce unsatisfactory re­ sults, Probably more than any other.writer of his time he was profptmdly affected by hisgeneratibn, To. read the .'biographies of l.ondoh’ is to know a man who wamted to. grasp every possible experienee physioal.sr/intelleottaal. and emotional ■=-:;tb.at: '1 could be realised, from his time. The world was. -his playground; but.it'was also his school3 and the experiences he gained from ' ■ it- he'wrote •into his books,. -Beeause-.he .was s o :much one.with his :age;# writers • invariably f ind it necessary to explain both the .'man "and hi.s - works: while' studying the forces which at­ tempered him. \ - , . ; - ^ . This> thesis -1 s;;coneern@d with an• examination of the heroes. ;"the::fsiipermen-,. that Jack London developed in his novels," . Ifs .purpose .is. to determine the essential properties of Jack -h ' hi London's f ictional characters '.by a method which, considers both the,-author and. the. forces' which affected him®' Since there is . general agreement among.critics that London's heroes are the ; object if icati On of all his own. desires, strivings and ideals and that London 'himself ■is a representative .refraction of his ' age,."a method which considers.the physical and ideological forces which shaped London's ■generation,; and subsequently him­ self, seems both expedient;and -valid. ;. PABf ;1 t PBYSIGAL FORGES Seotion I i f he Frontier Spirit-la; America ;. \ ■ . ■ "The American frontier is a state of mind rather than a - geographical■expression3 n writes Russell Blankenships "but: striotly speaking the. term means a .moving line of settlement:' with the: uninhaibifed publio- domain before if and the settled - oountry behind," The thinking of the American people was :de« termined to a large degree by the frontier. Just as Golumbus8 reports of the"lew;Sorld had a marked effeot upon.European thought, sp:did the:; wiIds of the-lest promote a spirit' of ad^ venture and dreams of personal: wealth and ultimate vseourity ; in the minds of-Americans. A man-'who beoame dissatisfied with his location needed only the courage to tra,vel beyOsd the pe­ riphery of settled territory to new land more to his liking. • ' % Sooial life o n ■the frentier 'was a great leveler. The:; very rich seldom staked their fortunes to penetrate the ufi- - known, and it was never the. group in power that, emigrated.., Pioneers were of the poorer classes to- whom the Western re- ■ gions promised more- than the social group in which they lived, and the possibility of emigration fostered a spirit of free­ dom and independence in these people.^ Wealth counted'little 3. American.Literature (Hew York, 1831), p . 60. 4. P o m . Jack London: A Study in Twentieth Genturv Values, u. 237. - ' - - -■■■ ■ ' ' : . : ' : P : :■ : ..... :. 4 in establisMng one8s self: on tMe frontier; a .man ccnild be ' . poor, and-still be a leader, of be oa.pable of hewing out a.- satisfying if not a. oomfortable ^existence for himself and his .family. Possessing little capital, the pioneers risked.little in the way of material goods when they embarked into an: almost unknown frontier where "various possibilities beckoned.; . -v The man on the Western frontier insisted upon the right and even the duty of "getting on" in the world. Independence .was physical and economic* but independence in thought was not popular.. Indeed the pioneer prided himself in being i- dentified in spirit* speech* ambition and rough ethics with his fellow settlers, Pioneers believed that the ability to gain wealth was proof of the virtue of the individual* that government’s prime duty was to assist in the individual’s." ex*?- ploitation of natural mesourcam"- and was never to interfere ~ . ' ’ ' with his 'Struggle to acquire property. American business has always boasted of its distinctive characteristic of free competition*" and this attitude is substantially an effect of the frontier force carried into the business world.. The rise to fame of a Oarnegie* a Morgan and other; self-made indiyidu™ als in polities* industry and finance* the emotional.intemper­ ances of American political-campaigns * and the unique uni­ formity. of our national thought are also .in harmony with our pioneer heritage*® Life in this land of opportunity did not 5. ■ Blankenship* American .Literature . p „. 85. 6. Ibid.. p. 68. beget pessi-mismJ; but the attitude that the: individual could. - scale the, ladder of .fortune; to a- height proportionate to his • ■ .' American frontier spirit.was one characterized by. opti-' - mism^- a spirit which was' not unwarranted, leonOinic oppor- • tunities,'. vast natural resources, the promises of roads, ca- ; nals railroads' and .uther: phases of industrial progress and ' laok of sooial stratification; in the West were sufficient to ;■ encourage settlers into the new lands where:their individual : efforts could bring optimum returns On the westward-looking borders h iconociasm j^'rugged indiyidualism and seif^reliaBce;,■ , became a religion*; -t in an atmosphere like: 'fhis:>^'giants # '■ .