Strolling in the American Literature Garden [Part 11]

Jack London (1876-1916) was the first American proletarian writer. He was born and raised in a poor family in San Francisco, California, with a mother who was a music teacher and a father who was an astrologer.

Writer Jack London.

At age 10, he sold newspapers; at 14, he worked in a cannery; at 16, he was a fisheries policeman; at 17, he worked a year on a ship; at 18, he wandered across America; at 21, while in college, his father revealed to him that he was unable to have children after marrying his mother. Indignant, he dropped out of school to join the rush of gold seekers in the Klondike, beginning a life of bitter but glorious wandering.

Jack London began writing at the age of 20, but it was at the age of 27 that he became famous with The Call of the Wild (1903), then The Sea Wolf (1904), White Fang (1907), The Iron Heel (1907), Burning Daylight (1910). Many of his works symbolize the “wolf law” of the capitalist social order.

Jack London, along with Stephen Crane (1871-1900), Frank Norris (1870-1902) and Upton Sinclair (1878-1968), were labeled by US President Theodore Roosevelt as “mud-stirring” writers for exposing the corruption of American politics and business. London lived in squalid houses in the capital so he could write Men of the Abyss (1903), a naturalistic novel. Class War (1905), a collection of socialist articles, Jack London defended socialism and proletarian revolution, while also promoting heroes and standing on the side of the destitute.

It was not until he was 37 that he became rich from his writing career and his books were translated into many languages ​​around the world , including Vietnamese (such as Iron Heel, Burning Daylight, Call of the Wild ...). He committed suicide at the age of 40 in a luxurious ranch in California. That showed the escape of a fundamentally romantic writer, feeling lost in a hostile world, making readers pay attention to his works and personality.

The Call of the Wild made Jack London suddenly famous. After that, generations of readers read his works in translation in many languages, thanks to which he became rich. The story is about a dog named Buck (Buck), who lived on a judge's farm in the temperate South of the United States. In the fall of 1894, people found gold in the Klondike region.

So the people from all over flocked to Alaska in the far cold North. Buck was sold and taken there. Buck had to change his way of life. No longer being pampered or respected by anyone, he had to find a way to adapt to the harsh natural environment, taste the beatings, stretch his back and stretch his neck to pull the sled; his muscles were like steel, his survival instinct rose in his subconscious.

Life became even more difficult when Buck was sold to three gold-seeking adventurers. He fought for his life and became the leader of the pack. His masters and the pack fell into an ice abyss and died. Buck was fortunately saved by a man named Thorntan.

From then on, humans and animals were bound together by mystical and profound feelings. Buck worshiped his master as a god. Twice he saved his master's life, once he brought his master a profit of over 1,000 USD in a challenge. After his master was killed by Indians, Buck could not resist his instincts, followed the call of the wild, returned to the forest with his pack of wolves, he was mastered, and every year he did not forget to make a pilgrimage back to the place where Thorntan died.

The Call of the Wild is a thesis novel. The author intends to illustrate Darwin's theory of evolution, the power of the environment, the law of adaptation to survive. But the story is very attractive, the animals are all distinct personalities, full of courage, ambition and cruelty. The work was welcomed by the industrialized class in the early 20th century, who craved wild instincts and a life close to nature.

The Sea Wolf tells the story of an adventure at sea. A writer named Humphrey is shipwrecked and is rescued by the captain of the sailing ship “The Ghost” named Wolf, who is very tough and cruel. Humphrey is forced to work as a chambermaid and is mistreated. On board is a beautiful female poet named Maude who is also rescued. Both men are interested in her.

One day the “Ghost” itself sank. Humphrey and Maude managed to swim to a deserted island. When the hull was washed ashore on the island, where Wolf was still alive, he prevented the two young men from repairing the boat and returning. Eventually, he became blind and paralyzed; until his death, he remained hot-tempered and courageous. Humphrey and Maude were rescued and returned to civilization.

White Fang is a novel that follows the reverse sequence of The Call of the Wild . The author tells the story of a wolf-like dog that is gradually domesticated, but is mistreated by its original owner, who wants to train it to be a fighting dog. Its later owner, a mining engineer, rescues it and takes it home to the West to domesticate it, where it is later seriously injured while protecting its owner's family from escaped criminals.

The Iron Heel is a science fiction novel set in the 26th century, four centuries after the world had escaped the “iron heel” of the ruling bourgeoisie. The author considers that at that time, he discovered a diary written by a female revolutionary named Evit about the revolutionary activities of her husband, Enot, who was arrested and executed in 1932.

The story tells of events from 1912. Anet, a worker and member of the Socialist Party, persuaded many people to make social revolutions, including a bishop. He was arrested, escaped from prison, and prepared two uprisings, all of which were suppressed by the “iron heel”. It was not until the 23rd century that the “iron heel” was defeated. The style of the work is like a detective adventure novel, although it can be classified as “proletarian literature”.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/dao-choi-vuon-van-my-ky-11-274875.html