Jack London and socialism: a study in contrasts Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Tuso, Joseph F. 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 02/10/2021 01:58:52 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/319292 JACK LONDON AND SOCIALISM: A STUDY IN CONTRASTS by- Joseph Frederick Tuso 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 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1964 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in The University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in their judgment the proposed use of the m aterial is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: Cfc'VU/LCL'ifl/ ■ I Dr I Albert F. Gmn&nheimer Daty Professor of English CONTENTS Chapter - Page ^jntODtT C y ^ I 'J E O i D ^ ' e o-o-oo-oeo 00060-ooepee -o-o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 1 i; THE MAKING OF A SOCIALIST. „ . „ 4 n ; . L o n d o n ’s s o c i a l p r i n c i p l e s . o .'oi'o:: v:... 44 h i : , t h e s u p e r m a n a n d t h e socm LisT:::::.: ::::::. : e? IV: SOCIALISM AND ART:'AN ATTEMPT . AT*L KJ^VKrTRV^m JL J-N -L & JL J-U k v x k v o ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" ' ....... .................................................................. *'S/* o CONCLUSION o 6 o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o e o o o o O'" o o o o o o o o o o o o o o 113o o w o r k s CONSULTED::::::: ::.:::::..,:..: us "V INTRODUCTION From April 1896 until his formal resignation on March 7, 1916, Jack London was a card-carrying member of the Socialist Party, This span of almost twenty years was also the period of London's most prolific literary activity, a time during which the theories of Charles Darwin, Herbert Spencer, Frederick Nietzsche, as well as those of Karl Marx, played an important part in London's literary efforts and in his very life. ^ It was not that London took the philosophies of each of those men in toto and made them his own, for such diverse and often mutually contradictory philosophies permit no such simple synthesis. London was an eclectic in his approach to the theories of Darwin, Spencer, Marx, and Nietzsche, and his resultant philosophy was thus perpetually in conflict and lacking in unity. And so while each of these systems of thought can indeed be found in London's writings and life, they existed only in an incomplete, transformed, and highly personalized state. London's "four intellectual grandparents were Darwin, Spencer, Marx, and Nietzsche. " Irving Stone, Sailor on Horseback: The Biography of Jack London (Cambridge, M ass., 1938), p. 109. 1 2 A good deal of light has already been shed concerning the influence of Darwin, Spencer, and Nietzsche upon London, while Philip S. Foner and Joan London (London's daughter by his first wife, Bessie 2 Maddern) have made valuable studies of London's socialism. More­ over, London's social thought is especially evident in many of the letters found in the otherwise inadequate biography which was written by 3 his second wife, Charmian K, London, Nevertheless, the influence of Marx and socialism upon London's life and art is an area which has not 4 as yet been adequately explored. 2 Especially useful are M argaret Isabel Pope's "Jack London: A Study in Twentieth-Century Values" (unpublished Ph.D, dissertation. Dept, of English, University of Wisconsin, 1935), and Eugene J. Ker- stiens' "Jack London's Superman: The Objectification of His Life and Times" (unpublished M aster's thesis. Dept, of English, University of Arizona, 1952). See also Charles C. Walcutt, "Jack London: Blond Beasts and Supermen, " American Literary ..Naturalism (St. Paul, 1956), pp. 87-113. Foner's Jack London, American Rebel: A Collection of His Social Writings Together with an Extensive Study Of the Mandand His Times (New York, 19,47) is written from the viewpoint of a sociologist, and Joan London's Jack London and His Tim es: An Unconventional Biography (New York, 1939) outlines in detail the rise of socialism here and abroad. Unfortunately, Joan London is at times subjective in relat­ ing her father to that movement. ^The Book of Jack London (New York, 1921), 2 vols. For a recent and valuable critical survey of the altogether unsatisfactory works that have been written on London, see Samuel A. Shivers, "Jack London: Author in Search of a Biographer, " American Book Collector, XII, vi (February 1962), 25-27. 3 Why did Jack London become a socialist? What was the extent of his socialism? What effect did his socialism have upon his life and literary efforts? It is the intent of this thesis to find satisfactory answers to these questions. , The-first step-will be to discover and clarify the factors that influenced London in his decision to become a socialist. This will be followed by an analysis of his socialism and social principles as found in his life and writings. The third step will be to demonstrate how London’s social ideals and social conscience were modified and subordin- : ated to his strong individualism and egotism. Finally, a critical evaluation will be made of London’s attempt to fuse socialist thought and art in The Iron Heel and Martin Eden, the two of his major works in which his socialism played the most prominent part. Since this is not a sociological study, Marxism itself will be discussed in brief and only in relation to London’s life, writings, and thought. CH A PTER I THE MAKING OF A SOCIALIST By 1903, Jack London was well on his way toward becoming one of the most successful writers of his day. Erstwhile seaman, adventurer, seeker of gold in the Klondike, the twenty-seven year old author had already published three collections of short stories (The. Son of the Wolf, 1900, The God of His Fathers,; 1901, and Children of the Frost, 1902), a story for juveniles (The Cruise of the Dazzler, 1902), and two novels (A Daughter of the Snows, 1902, and The Call of the Wild, 1903). Two of these works. Children of the Frost and The 1 Call of the Wild, brought London almost immediate national acclaim. Since April 1896, London had been a socialist. His fame as a writer had so increased by 1903 that The Comrade, an official party "The critical response to The Call of the Wild was so over*- whelmingly favorable that ten thousand copies were sold the first day of publication. It was the first of London's books to be a best seller, and it remains today 0.947] the best known of his writings. " Foner, p. 54. Irving Stone said that London's "Children of the Frost, the Alaskan-Indian stories that were.M acmillan's first publication, established him as the dominant figure in the American short story. " Stone, p. 172. 4 publication that had been founded in 1901, asked him. to contribute an article on how he had become a socialist. L,ondon$s article was to be but one of a series by well-known Party members like .Father McGrady the Rev. T. H„ Hagerty, William T. Brown, Joshua Wanhope, and others. It was felt that such a series would be a source of inspiration to potential socialists. Jack London was more than pleased to submit an article to a publication which he had read and enthusiastically approved of since its very inception. His essay "How I Became a : ■ 2 SociaRst" appeared in the issue of March 1903. In this short article,. which was unfortunately more enthus­ iastic than candid, London’s main point was that he became a socialist almost unconsciously as a result of his realization that the same . capitalistic system that had used, exploited, and then discarded or maimed so many men--men who were once as young and healthy as he- would most probably do the same thing to him. He said of his frame of mind before his "conversion": 2 After reading the first issue of The Comrade, London wrote joyfully to its editor: "My congratulations on your noteworthy first number. What with The International Socialist Review and The Comrade, I really feel a respectable member of society, able to say tb'-'thc most finicky: ’Behold the literature of my party ! ’ " The Comrade, I (November 1901), 32. 6 The dignity of labor was to me the most impressive thing in.