Jack London "Martin Eden": book review. Martin Eden, London Jack Jack London Martin Eden Contents English

Like his literary character, John Griffith Cheney worked hard to earn his daily bread from childhood. As a child, he sold newspapers, worked as a cleaner, and as a factory worker. Then he is hired as a sailor on a fishing vessel, like Martin Eden. The summary of the novel in its first chapters is determined by the self-identification of the aspiring writer - a sailor. After all, it was the journey - to the Bering Sea - that filled the soul of the future writer with such vivid impressions that he took up the pen. Then, like his Martin Eden, John Chaney decides to change his life by becoming a writer.

In some ways, the passing of 40-year-old Jack London is similar to what Martin Eden did to himself. The summary of the book tells us about suicide. The former sailor dove and breathed water into his lungs. Experts associate the death of Jack London himself with suicide (although this has not been proven) - an intentional overdose of morphine (the writer weakened it with it). Further, the logic of the article leads us directly to a brief summary of the content of the novel.

Chapters I-II. Plot plot. Dissonance: outwardly a sailor, inside a poet

“Martin Eden” begins in a kindly ironic way. The summary of the first chapter shows us that Jack London, obviously, makes fun of himself in his youth: physically strong, self-centered, but constrained by poverty and lack of education sufficient for intellectual development.

His hero goes to dinner at the aristocratic house of the Morse family. The reason was that he, a twenty-year-old sailor, fought back against local hooligans when they tried to rob his peer Arthur Morse.

Here he meets his sister Ruth, who is studying at the university, and falls recklessly in love with her, having fantasized her image. In turn, the girl was more impressed by Martin’s masculine charisma and his passionate desire to learn.

Martin Eden, as Jack London tells us, was not invited for noble reasons. The summary of Chapter II tells us that behind the external aristocracy and good manners of Arthur Morse there was banal human meanness. He wanted to ridicule his savior, an “uneducated blockhead,” in front of his family, having previously made a visit, saying that he would bring an “interesting savage.”

However, Martin rose to the occasion, using all his powers of observation, all his “instant learning.” Without knowing it, he ruined Arthur's plan.

When he tried to provoke him into a rude story, Martin led him in such a way that the sailor’s rudeness was softened by good-natured humor, the spirit of adventure was emphasized and the beauty of the world and events he saw was vividly conveyed. He also organically combined powerful energy and indifference to beauty.

Chapters III-V. The world is crippling, the world is fooling

We see the temporary home of the main character. “Bird rights” lives here (judging by the way Jack London tells it) Martin Eden. A summary of Chapter III is a description of his life in the house of his brother-in-law Bernard Higginbotham.

He is a shopkeeper by profession, but by character he is a greedy, malicious person, prone to meanness. Living with him was not easy for the protagonist's sister, Gertrude. He exploited her mercilessly.

Martin Eden lives in a “cramped closet” with a bed, washbasin and chair. Here, in bestial conditions, inspired by his love for Ruth, he decides to change. He makes an important decision: to devote time to education, culture, hygiene in order to rise to the level of his ideal - the “flower girl”.

He is outraged by the primitivism of his neighbor Jim, who spends his free time dancing, drinking and girls, and refuses his offer to have a fun time.

Martin decides that “he’s not like that” and goes to the library. Not without irony, Jack London writes about his first visit to this establishment in his novel “Martin Eden.” The summary of this plot lies in the depression of the main character from the number of “treasures of wisdom” surrounding him and the realization that he does not yet have the key to them (i.e., the knowledge necessary for a full reading). He wandered through the halls of the Oakland Library for a long time, helpless and confused, and then returned home with nothing.

Chapter VI-VIII. Self-education stage

Time has passed. Martin Eden signed up immediately for both the Auckland and Barclays libraries. Moreover, in each of them, in addition to his own subscription, he opened subscriptions for his two sisters: Gertrude and Maria, and also for Jim’s apprentice. He carried piles of books into his closet, reading them day and night.

He began reading with the works of Swinburne, then drew attention to the works of Karl Marx, Ricardo, and Adam Smith. I even tried to read Blavatsky’s “Secret Doctrine”...

He was looking for a meeting with Ruth. And even once I went to the theater well-groomed, wearing a clean shirt and ironed trousers. Lizzie Conolly, a beautiful brunette from a working family, wants to meet him. Martin realized that there was only room in his heart for Ruth. On the advice of the librarian, he arranged a meeting with her over the phone. He talked to Ruth only about his self-education. Her advice is standard: first secondary, and then higher education. However, tuition fees exceed Martin's income, and his family will not be able to help him. (How close it was to Jack London himself!)

The young man had only one path left - self-education. Ruth really helps him master his grammar. After grammar, he suddenly and not without success began to master poetics.

Martin began to meet with Ruth more often. The girl imperceptibly began to fall in love with him.

Chapter IX-XIII. Martin Eden, stage of self-discovery. Ignored by editors

The money the sailor had previously earned was wasted, and in order to earn money, he took part in an eight-month expedition to the Solomon Islands. Those around him noted that his speech had become noticeably more correct. In addition, during the voyage, the Norwegian captain provided him with volumes of Shakespeare to read.

Undoubtedly, the extremely concisely formulated summary for the novel “Martin Eden” is unique. In English, good old Shakespearean English, Martin learned to express his thoughts while swimming.

Returning to Oakland, he did not go straight to Ruth, but in three days he wrote an essay for the San Francisco Observer and then the first part of a story about the whalers. Now he wrote three thousand words a day. He hoped to earn money in order to appear successful in front of his lady.

Soon the young man was disappointed: he failed in high school - everything except grammar. In addition, the editors of the magazines to which he sent his writings returned them to him without publication.

An unexpected call from Ruth, and...Martin escorts her arm in arm to the lecture. On the way, he meets and greets Lizzie Conolly and her friend, who are trying to meet him at the theater.

Returning home, to his miserable closet, he, sitting on his bed, painfully ponders whether he was right to recklessly fall in love with Miss Morse, a woman not from his circle. He wonders whether the love he has chosen will bring him to goodness?

Martin finally identifies himself creatively correctly. At first he was confused by the impenetrability of the editors, and then began a brainstorming session. Thanks to painful reflections, he, doomed to rely only on himself in his development, comes to the right conclusions. Assessing his previous literary failures, he exposes himself in ignorance, in an unformed understanding of beauty, in immaturity of feelings. It is valuable that through his work he develops these qualities in himself.

The tool for rethinking was Spencer's philosophy of the unity of the world. He finally understood how mature reasoning is constructed, realized how to write, and came to the real creative process: to the denial of his former amateurish rejection of the dullness of the world. He understood: much more important is the harmony of the world.

His guesses about the redundancy of “general education” (persistently imposed by Ruth) were confirmed in an impromptu “debate for three”, in which Ruth, Olney (Norman’s friend) and he participated. The prevailing opinion was that talent should develop only in a certain “own” direction.

Chapter XIV-XV. Self-knowledge

It is obvious that Jack London (“Martin Eden”) wrote the novel as a personal (not documentary, but artistic) confession about his creative path. A summary of the chapters of this book convinces: creativity develops through trial and error...

Ruth, at Martin's request, reads his essays to perhaps find a weakness. She partially succeeds. However, at the same time, she feels Martin’s artistic power, soulfully describing the “wrong and dirty life” of ordinary people, which is unfamiliar to her. The emotional strength of the novice author is so expressive that Ruth clearly feels that she is in love. However, for her, the subconscious ideal of a man is the type of her father.

Martin himself by this time is spiritually reborn. He recalls his six-year conflict with a guy named Butterface. Fights were regular. In the end, the opponents (already grown guys) almost killed each other. Stupid, pointless conflict. The main character is horrified by his inner world in those years... He feels remorse.

Chapters XVI-XVIII. Working in the laundry room of the Teplye Klyuchi hotel

You need money to write literature. Martin is a helper who works for $40 a month, with housing and food guaranteed. The work is exhausting and irregular. The young man felt like “a ghost in the kingdom of labor.” He leaves this vicious circle, depriving him of strength and interest in life, having fundamentally decided: he must not let emptiness into his life.

At the same time, the aristocratic Morse family is discussing it.

There is a conversation between mother and daughter - Mrs. and Miss Morse. Ruth talks about Martin being in love with her and her influence on him. Mrs. Morse retells the conversation to her husband. The couple decide, when Martin goes sailing (he didn’t earn any money in the laundry), to send their daughter east to Aunt Clara.

Chapters XX-XXIII. Ruth and Martin's falling in love and engagement

Ruth finally falls in love with Martin. He instinctively and wisely does not rush to show his love. Ruth is explained first. She is concerned about his masculinity and talent.

Parents, in principle, are against it, but decide to consider them engaged, secretly hoping for their quick breakup. They were not mistaken in betting on their daughter’s commercialism.

Chapters XX-XXIII. Writer's Breakthrough

The main character rents a room from a poor Portuguese woman, Maria Silva. He continues to write unpublished articles, desperately poor. He sells things: a coat, a bicycle, a suit, buying simple products with the proceeds. He goes hungry, periodically having lunch with his sister and Ruth.

Suddenly, one magazine, the Transcontinental Messenger, agrees to publish his article “Ringing Bells,” however, not for the legal $100 (Martin desperately needs to pay off a debt of $56 in payment for purchased and eaten food, housing, and things at the pawnshop). The scammers are going to value his work at only $5. He is trampled morally, his immunity is weakening, and the former sailor falls seriously ill with the flu.

Suddenly, Martin's articles begin to be published, and small checks from magazines gradually arrive. He is paying off his debts. Finally, he is recognized as a writer.

However, he still has to learn the vicious “kitchen” of journalism. Editors soon begin to default on payments. Martin's return to the Transcontinental Monthly of the five dollars he earned turns into a real farce. At the same time, the editors of the Hornet - strong, clean-shaven swindlers - even "helped him get down the stairs faster." And although they then “drank in honor of meeting,” $15 remained with the “winners.”

Ruth is myopic in her perception of the ideal man. She does not recognize the talent of her chosen one, still wanting Martin to have a “solid income” as an employee. She is convinced that he should get a job with her father.

Moreover, Ruth is a child of her circle. She is embarrassed that her chosen one communicates with the poor.

Chapters XXXI-XXXVII. Creative maturity. Friendship with Brissenden

The sociable Martin meets Mr. Morse's guest, Russ Brissenden, a freethinker, a man suffering from consumption, but in love with life. They, like-minded people, become friends.

Ress came from Arizona, where he underwent climate treatment for two years. Outwardly, he was of average height, with “sloping shoulders,” lively “brown eyes,” aristocratic facial features and sunken cheeks.

He had encyclopedic erudition. Martin, having read his poem “Ephyremis” (ephemera) - a philosophical rethinking of Man, called it brilliant. He rethought a lot and in conversation expressed his personal, unique opinions.

In particular, he explained in half a turn why magazines did not publish Martin’s articles: “You have depth, but magazines don’t need it ... They print garbage, and they supply it in abundance.” Having familiarized himself with the poems of the former sailor, Ress expressed the opinion that he was a real poet. He shrewdly warned Martin Eden “not to fly too far,” because “his wings are too delicate.” He described Ruth (with merciless truthfulness and to Martin’s indignation) as “pale and insignificant.” Her attempts to re-educate the sailor are “pathetic morals” due to “fear of life.” Ress advised the main character to find a woman - a “bright butterfly” with a “free soul.”

In addition, he promises to introduce him to people “who have also read something” with whom Martin will have something to talk about. To do this, the friends first went “on a January evening” to the “working-class neighborhood behind Market Street.” Here they really met smart and educated people (idealist Norton, former Professor Craze). Martin (at the instigation of Brissinden) entered into an interesting dispute with Craze.

Chapter XXXVIII. Adversity and bullying

For the second time, comrades come to the socialist club.

During the discussion of the speaker's interesting speech, Martin also speaks. He simply brings clarity to the confusion of opinions, based on the elementary laws of evolution. But there is also a young, zealous and sensational reporter present here.

He composed a lampoon about the “fierce long-haired” socialists, and, having come up with a speech playing on the word “revolution,” he put it into Martin’s mouth, presenting him as a socialist.

In our opinion, it is extremely important to mention the irony with which Jack London (“Martin Eden”) wrote the novel. The chapter-by-chapter summary in English invariably focuses on one scene from the book... We are talking about the same impudent reporter. Trying to “deepen the topic,” this slandered, unscrupulous young man, who sincerely believes that he is “advertising Martin,” came for an additional interview.

Brissinden was also present with the former sailor... With convincing irony (this is one of our favorite passages in the novel), Jack London tells with what comments, holding the reporter’s head between his knees, he spanked this liar, “doing a favor to his mommy,” Martin.

In response, this little rat wrote another lie - a libel against Martin. Believe me, Jack London expressed a lot of personal things in this short story (after all, he himself was persecuted for his socialist views).

The reporter’s “vile trick” ruined the personal life of the main character of the book. Soon, Ruth wrote a letter about the break of the engagement. The lackeys no longer allowed Martin into the Morzzas’ house, citing the fact that “there is no one at home.”

Five days passed after the meeting of friends, and through the efforts of Martin “Epheremis” Brissinden was accepted by the magazine “Parthenon” with an exorbitant fee of $ 350 and with an enthusiastic review from critics. Having gone in search of a friend, Martin was shocked: he shot himself in a hotel bed, returning from him and handing over his poem. In a state of crisis, tormented by lack of money, he finishes writing his story “Belated.”

Chapter XLV. Life force leaves Martin Eden

He would later give the $350 he had received to Brissinden's executor, along with a receipt for the $100 debt he had given him at their last meeting.

Then the wheel of fortune began to work for Martin: he began to be published. First-class magazines vied with each other to publish his articles, offering hundreds of dollars for them. The paid checks arrived in the mail, but it was too late. He, “burnt out from the inside,” could no longer write. Martin was immensely lonely after losing Ruth and Brissinden. He simply laughed philosophically at the money he earned.

However, his big heart still found worthy use for them. His beloved sister Gertrude was exhausted by the housework assigned to her by her stingy husband. Martin insisted that she hire a servant for his money and then work for her own pleasure, and not “for wear and tear.”

Some time later, he meets his wandering laundry partner, Joe (both of them have left this exhausting and mind-numbing job). Martin, who has become rich, gives Joe a small laundry service.

Finally, recognition comes to him. “Its price” from publishers increases by an order of magnitude. He is fashionable. Doors open before him, he is invited to “respectable houses.” Even Mr. Morse considered it an honor for Martin to visit his home. But even the smart and energetic Lizzie Conolly, who has fallen in love with him since meeting in the theater, cannot awaken him to life. Ruth, who suddenly came and tried to revive the lost relationship, cannot return his feelings. He finally realizes the commercialism of this girl and the fact that he previously loved not her, but a certain “Ideal Ruth.” The real Ruth was ready to destroy his talent.

Martin is “sick with satiety of life,” cold from the inside and longing for peace.

Chapter XLVI. On the way to death

As if fate is leading Martin to destruction, he is drawn to civilizations devoid of vulgarity.

Returning to his 1st class cabin, he picks up a volume of Swinbourne's poems, drawing attention to philosophical lines about the frailty of human life. The suicidal motives of the poet's lyrics find a response in Martin's tormented heart.

He throws himself into the depths of the sea. The ship sails into the distance into the night, and Martin, taking a vertical position of his body, tries to immerse himself in the water and breathe it into his lungs. He doesn't succeed the first time. He defines the reason - the will to live. (It is curious that Jack London would later write a story under this title). However, with subsequent attempts, Martin manages to deceive the body, it sinks deeper, consciousness fades, and rainbow-colored visions arise...

Instead of a conclusion

When discussing a novel, the question arises, what is its value? Is it worth reading a book if there is already a summary on the Internet for almost any novel (including Martin Eden)? Briefly, as a site with a library of summaries, is very informative...

I think Jack London would have been offended if he heard something like that. After all, his book “Martin Eden” is a hymn to natural creativity, an ode to self-knowledge and work on oneself!

How useful it would be for modern writers and copywriters to imbue themselves with the spirit of the hero Jack London! Moreover, the author presents him as a living person, giving subsequent adherents of literature the opportunity to avoid their mistakes.

Once on the ferry, Martin Eden, a sailor, twenty years old, defended Arthur Morse from a gang of hooligans. Arthur is about the same age as Martin, but belongs to wealthy and educated people. As a sign of gratitude - and at the same time wanting to amuse the family with an eccentric acquaintance - Arthur invites Martin to dinner. The atmosphere of the house - paintings on the walls, lots of books, playing the piano - delights and fascinates Martin. Ruth, Arthur's sister, makes a special impression on him. She seems to him the embodiment of purity, spirituality, perhaps even divinity. Martin decides to become worthy of this girl. He goes to the library in order to join the wisdom available to Ruth, Arthur and the like (both Ruth and her brother study at the university).

Martin is a gifted and deep nature. He enthusiastically immerses himself in the study of literature, language, and the rules of versification. He often communicates with Ruth, she helps him in his studies. Ruth, a girl with conservative and rather narrow views, tries to reshape Martin according to the model of people in her circle, but she is not very successful. Having spent all the money he earned on his last voyage, Martin goes to sea again, hiring himself as a sailor. During the long eight months of sailing, Martin “enriched his vocabulary and his mental baggage and got to know himself better.” He feels great strength within himself and suddenly realizes that he wants to become a writer, first of all, so that Ruth can admire the beauty of the world with him. Returning to Oakland, he writes a feature story about treasure hunters and submits the manuscript to the San Francisco Observer. Then he sits down to read a story about whalers for young people. Having met Ruth, he shares his plans with her, but, unfortunately, the girl does not share his ardent hopes, although she is pleased with the changes happening to him - Martin began to express his thoughts much more correctly, dress better, etc. Ruth is in love with Martin , but her own concepts about life do not give her the opportunity to realize this. Ruth believes that Martin needs to study, and he takes his high school exams, but fails miserably in all subjects except grammar. Martin is not too discouraged by the failure, but Ruth is upset. None of Martin's works sent to magazines and newspapers have been published; all are returned by mail without any explanation. Martin decides: the fact is that they are handwritten. He rents a typewriter and learns to type. Martin works all the time, without even counting it as work. “He simply found the gift of speech, and all the dreams, all the thoughts of beauty that had lived in him for many years, poured out in an uncontrollable, powerful, ringing stream.”

Martin discovers the books of Herbert Spencer, and this gives him the opportunity to see the world in a new way. Ruth does not share his passion for Spencer. Martin reads his stories to her, and she easily notices their formal flaws, but is unable to see the power and talent with which they are written. Martin does not fit into the framework of bourgeois culture, familiar and native to Ruth. The money he earned while sailing runs out, and Martin gets hired to iron clothes in a laundry. The intense, hellish work exhausts him. He stops reading and one weekend gets drunk, just like in the old days. Realizing that such work not only exhausts, but also dulls him, Martin leaves the laundry.

There are only a few weeks left before the next voyage, and Martin devotes these holidays to love. He often sees Ruth, they read together, go for walks on bicycles, and one fine day Ruth finds herself in Martin's arms. They explain themselves. Ruth knows nothing about the physical side of love, but feels the attraction of Martin. Martin is afraid to offend her purity. Ruth's parents are not delighted with the news of her engagement to Eden.

Martin decides to write for a living. He rents a tiny room from the Portuguese Maria Silva. His strong health allows him to sleep five hours a day. The rest of the time he works: he writes, learns unfamiliar words, analyzes the literary techniques of various writers, and looks for “the principles underlying the phenomenon.” He is not too embarrassed that not a single line of his has yet been published. “Writing was for him the final link of a complex mental process, the last knot that connected individual scattered thoughts, a summation of accumulated facts and positions.”

But the streak of bad luck continues, Martin's money runs out, he pawns his coat, then his watch, then his bicycle. He starves, eating only potatoes and occasionally dining with his sister or Ruth. Suddenly - almost unexpectedly - Martin receives a letter from a thick magazine. The magazine wants to publish his manuscript, but is going to pay five dollars, although, according to the most conservative estimates, it should have paid a hundred. Out of grief, the weakened Martin falls ill with a severe flu. And then the wheel of fortune turns - checks from magazines begin to arrive one after another.

After some time, the luck stops. The editors are vying with each other to try to cheat Martin. Getting money from them for publications is not easy. Ruth insists that Martin get a job with her father; she does not believe that he will become a writer. By chance, at the Morse's, Martin meets Ress Brissenden and becomes close to him. Brissenden is sick with consumption, he is not afraid of death, but passionately loves life in all its manifestations. Brissenden introduces Martin to "real people" who are obsessed with literature and philosophy. With his new comrade, Martin attends a socialist rally, where he argues with the speaker, but thanks to an efficient and unscrupulous reporter, he ends up on the pages of newspapers as a socialist and subverter of the existing system. The newspaper publication leads to sad consequences - Ruth sends Martin a letter informing him of the break in the engagement. Martin continues to live by inertia, and he is not even pleased with the checks coming from magazines - almost everything written by Martin is now published. Brissenden commits suicide, and his poem "Ephemeris", which Martin published, causes a storm of vulgar criticism and makes Martin glad that his friend does not see this.

Martin Eden finally becomes famous, but all this is deeply indifferent to him. He receives invitations from those people who previously ridiculed him and considered him a slacker, and sometimes even accepts them. He is consoled by the thought of going to the Marquesas Islands and living there in a reed hut. He generously distributes money to his relatives and people with whom his fate connected him, but nothing can touch him. Neither the sincere, ardent love of the young worker Lizzie Conolly, nor the unexpected arrival of Ruth to him, now ready to ignore the voice of rumor and stay with Martin. Martin sails to the islands on the Mariposa, and by the time he leaves, the Pacific Ocean seems no better to him than anything else. He understands that there is no way out for him. And after several days of sailing, he slips out into the sea through the porthole. To deceive the will to live, he takes air into his lungs and dives to great depths. When all the air runs out, he is no longer able to rise to the surface. He sees a bright, white light and feels that he is flying into a dark abyss, and then consciousness leaves him forever.

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I'm just a barbarian getting his first impressions of civilization
Jack London, Martin Eden

In 1908, the Pacific Monthly published Jack London's novel Martin Eden. The work describes the creative path of a young writer who, thanks to hard work and immense creative energy, managed to achieve success in his craft, become an intellectual, and achieve universal recognition. The peculiarity of the novel was not only the reflection of the vices of high society, but also the demonstration of the presence among the imaginary “intelligentsia” of real, extraordinary minds of that time.

Sailor, representative of the working class. Throughout the novel, we observe the evolution of the character, his internal growth. From a simple worker, Martin grows to become a famous writer, but at what cost? His path cannot be called simple and full of only joys. It was a thorny path, full of hardships and suffering, as a result of which many truths were revealed to the hero. In particular, he begins to realize that the girl he loved with all his heart does not really believe in him and is ready to submit to her parents, convincing himself that Eden will never achieve success in the craft of writing.

This hero is brave, open to learning, full of strength and energy, he can be called purposeful and self-confident. He is hardy, able to sleep only 6 hours a day, devoting the rest of the time to work. Keeps his word, helps those in need. Not afraid to express his own opinion. He can stand up for himself and those who are dear to him.

Love for Ruth changed a lot in the hero, and it was thanks to her that he began to change both internally and externally. Many of the positive traits of the former Martin Eden, the sailor, remained with him (such as kindness, openness, willingness to come to the aid of the defenseless, etc.) and were also added to them by neatness, refinement of manners, and rejection of bad habits; The character's speech has become more polished and logical. This image cannot but arouse our admiration. However, there is also another side to the coin. Martin Eden, according to Jack London himself, is an individualist (individualism in the “Dictionary of the Russian Language” by S.I. Ozhegov, edited by N.Yu. Shvedova - “1. a moral principle that puts the interests of the individual above the interests of society; 2. the desire for expression of one’s personality, one’s individuality, to contrast oneself with others”). This position ultimately leads the hero to death. Since he believed only in himself and the only support in his destiny was only his love for Ruth Morse and friendship with Russ Brissenden, the discord with his lover and the death of a friend (Brissenden committed suicide) completely undermined Martin’s vitality and led to his death.

He did not always find support among the people, although ordinary workers loved him simply because he existed, and his former comrades rejoiced at his return every time. Of course, there were some clashes. However, among the people with whom Martin grew up, he always felt much calmer than with members of the intelligentsia. However, most of the old comrades had no idea what the young man was writing. And he himself did not try to tell everyone about it. Eden's works were seen mainly by the publishers of magazines and newspapers, Ruth and Brissenden, and Martin's sisters and their husbands also heard something about them (in fact, of all of them, only Gertrude was sympathetic to her brother's work).

In general, it cannot be said that the people were of any special value to Martin. This probably happened because Eden became disillusioned with society as a whole. Its structure turned out to be completely wrong: unfair, full of flattery and hypocrisy, deprivation and feigned importance. And behind the masks of educated intellectuals, the most ordinary hypocrites, unable to express their own opinions, were revealed. They can be given a head start by philosophers, people “of the real stuff,” to whom Eden was once brought by Russ Brissenden. Thus, Martin’s fate turned out to be very tragic, since a break in stereotypes occurred in his life, which he could not cope with.

Main characters

Ruth Morse - Martin's beloved, Bachelor of Arts, is essentially just a bourgeois, unable to accept life as it is. She can safely be called an imaginary representative of the reflective intelligentsia. Ruth delves into herself, trying to determine what she feels towards her groom. At first, the physical strength of the young man and his appearance attract the heroine, but, nevertheless, she is not able to fully adequately assess her feeling. It was just passion, nothing more. After all, if Ruth had truly loved Martin, she would not have given up hope that sooner or later he would achieve success and make writing his profession. From love to hate, as you know, there is one step, and the same thing happens to the heroine. She is uncomfortable with the idea that her “lover” does not want to find a permanent job, refusing the position offered to Martin by the girl’s father (her own dream is for Martin to become a lawyer). However, Ruth cannot be called a negative character - there is a lot of kindness, light, and sincerity in her. At the very beginning of the novel, the heroine helps Martin, corrects mistakes in his speech, and gives books to read. She is no stranger to sympathy - she sincerely feels sorry for Lizzie Connolly when she and Martin accidentally meet her on the street, or when Martin gets sick with the flu - she comes to visit him. However, the amazing fact is that, even seeing the state he was in - he was very weak and pale - Ruth made him promise her that he would give up smoking and shave. Was it really impossible to call a doctor instead, or at least send him, so exhausted, some food! By the end of the novel, the heroine, however, changes quite a lot. She acts quite boldly, coming to Martin and declaring her intention to abandon the principles of the bourgeoisie. The image of Ruth is very ambiguous, although we cannot judge her - the girl’s surroundings are largely to blame; if she had grown up in a working-class family, like Lizzie Connolly, perhaps she would have been completely different and would not have changed her beliefs too quickly (the girl succumbed to the influence of her parents and broke off the engagement, but after the groom became famous, she returned to him).
Lizzie Connolly is a working-class girl who truly fell in love with Martin Eden. With her, the hero could become truly happy! However, due to mental “illness”, he could not stay with her - something burned out in him, he stopped feeling the taste of life, although, perhaps, Lizzie was given the opportunity to correct this. She was even ready to die for Martin - her feeling for him was so strong. The heroine loved the person in him, did not look at whether he was famous or not, whether he had a permanent job and a stable income. No - she was above all this, and wanted to share all the sorrows and joys with her beloved man - which, unfortunately, never happened. The image of a simple, sincere and selfless girl from the outskirts is contrasted with the type of false, mannered and fickle Ruth. The author sees the ideal of a woman in kindness and devotion, and not in the ability to impress. And truly virtuous people, according to London, have very humble origins, obliging them to work, and not giving them fruitless idleness.
Professor Caldwell is a teacher of English philology who influenced Martin Eden. This is the first real intellectual that Martin met at the Morse. The hero considers his arguments quite interesting and worthy of attention. “You know, he’s such a brilliant mind, such an intellectual, it’s the first time I’ve talked to someone like that,” Martin notes. But the professor is an exception from the entire Morse circle; he alone, according to Eden, was capable of a great accomplishment, but was afraid to do it: “You see, it seemed to me that he penetrated into the very essence of life and was desperately afraid of what he saw, and he himself he’s pretending to himself that he didn’t see any of this,” the young man reasoned. According to V.N. Bogoslovsky, Professor Caldwell agrees with the main character that radical thoughts cannot be expressed at the university, and Martin also forces Caldwell to admit that university teachers do not sufficiently monitor the development of modern science and are engaged exclusively in the classics. It is also interesting to note that in America there once lived a writer with the same surname as the professor in the novel “Martin Eden” - Erskine Caldwell, and V.N. Bogoslovsky writes that this author in his works is the same as London, Dreiser and Steinbeck - touched on the topic of inhuman labor.
Russ Brissenden is Martin's best friend and, as a result, the only one of all who truly understood the hero. Brissenden is a socialist, and wants Martin to join the socialist movement, and therefore introduces the hero to “people of real dough,” philosophers from the people. As researcher Philip Foner notes, only Russ recognizes Eden’s talent, and also predicts disappointment for the young man when the pinnacle of his writing career is reached, and there is nothing left to tie him to life. He predicts that Martin will have to endure many misfortunes due to the fault of women. The main character sees in his friend “the second real intellectual” after Professor Caldwell. The young socialist himself was positively different from the professor: “But he noticed in Brissenden what Professor Caldwell lacked - fire, amazing sensitivity and insight, the indomitable flame of genius. His lively speech was in full swing.”
Gertrude and Bernard Higginbotham, Marian and Herman Schmidt - Martin's sisters and their husbands. If we talk about sisters, then Gertrude is much more supportive of Martin than Marian. Her brother's early stories move Gertrude to tears. Mrs. Higginbottom even invited Martin Eden to dinner several times and offered to give his brother money. Her heart is kind, she takes pity on Martin, although she herself has a hard time, since she is in slavish dependence on her selfish and arrogant husband, Bernard Higginbotham. The latter also disliked the main character, overcharging the latter for housing and utilities when the young man was still living with them. Marian is ashamed of her brother, because he dedicated poems to her that her fiancé, and subsequently her husband, Herman, did not like. “He says it indecently, not...indecently,” she sobs. By the way, Mr. Schmidt continued to fiercely hate Martin - until he became famous (like many others, however). As we can see, even among his family, the hero finds virtually no sympathy.
Maria Silva is the woman Martin rented from. A very kind heroine, her children more than once stood up for the tenant when the neighboring boys began to call him names. She forgave him his debts for housing, sometimes fed him, and once even treated him to wine. The hero helps Maria and thereby pays her off in full - he buys her a dairy farm, which Maria has always dreamed of.
Joe is Eden's acquaintance. Together with him, Martin had to endure not the most pleasant moments of joint hard labor in the laundry, where the heroes had to wash, iron, and starch linen from morning until night. He amazes the future writer with his strength and speed of work. Joe is an inventor; He came up with the idea of creating an improved model of the washboard, consisting of “a wagon wheel hub and piston connected to a spring above the tank.” He is a rebel at heart: when one day they brought in an extra bundle of fancy lingerie, Joe was initially going to go and express everything he thought to his boss, the “fat Dutchman.” However, almost immediately he “submits to fate” and continues to diligently do his job. Together with Martin, he left the laundry and went wandering, and subsequently met Eden again in San Francisco. Then the former partner bought a well-equipped laundry for Joe from a Frenchman so that his friend would never need anything again.

Criticism

The analysis of Jack London's novel "Martin Eden" was carried out by such leading experts as A.A. Anikst ("Essay on the Development of Literature in the USA"), I.I. Anisimov ("Mid-Century"), M. Gorky, A.P. Chekhov (“M. Gorky about literature”), V.N. Bogoslovsky (“Jack London”), K.I. Chukovsky (“Faces and Masks”), F. Jung (“Jack London as a Poet of the Working Class”), etc. Especially among them are the researchers F. Foner and V.N. Sushkov, who approached the study of the work with particular care and expressed quite interesting thoughts on its content.

The famous American historian and literary critic Philip Foner dedicated an entire book to the work of Jack London - “Jack London - American Rebel”. The author notes that the writer has repeatedly repeated the following - Martin Eden is the most misinterpreted of all his books. As mentioned above, the hero is a convinced individualist, in the opinion of his creator himself (and not a socialist, as it seemed to many readers and researchers). Here is a quote from D. London, cited by F. Foner in his book: “I wrote “Martin Eden” not as an autobiography, not as a parable about what a terrible end is destined for the unbeliever, but as an exposure of this dearest principle of the individualist - to fight like a wild animal for his place in the sun, in the ranks of whose champions Mr. Brown is not the least.” Charles Brown is a priest with whom the author of the novel had disagreements regarding the interpretation of the work. Thus, C. Brown, during a sermon in Auckland on January 16, 1909, said that the hero of London was defeated in life because he, as a socialist, “lacked faith in God.”

Philip Foner argues that it is difficult to blame critics for misunderstanding the message of Martin Eden, since even today the reader is least likely to recognize the author's intention to defeat individualism in the pages of this book. There are not many real socialists in the novel (called to oppose their ideas to this error): the first is Russ Brissenden, who was present at a meeting in the apartment of Kreis (a professor expelled from the university), and the second is a speaker at the Sunday evening of the Auckland Socialist Club. D. London does not say that the speaker at the Auckland club symbolizes the exploitation of the working class under capitalism, and he does not even reveal what exactly Martin liked about this man. For this reason, it is not so surprising that many readers came away from this scene with the idea of socialists as rather "eccentrics."

F. Foner also argues that although Martin Eden is considered by many to be London's most mature work, and although this book perfectly depicts the thorny path of the worker to education, writing and success, yet in many respects it is the least successful work of all his works. If only for the simple reason that from time to time researchers turn to it and try to prove positions that are directly opposite to those that the author himself sought to express.

Researcher Valentina Nikolaevna Sushkova in her textbook “Four Classics of American Literature (Mark Twain, Jack London, Theodore Dreiser, Ernest Hemingway) compares the image of Martin Eden and the author himself - Jack London. At the same time, the critic notes that one should not fully compare the image of the hero to his creator. This is not a duplicate of the writer, since the author himself has changed, losing his naivety and integrity, which, in turn, are inherent in Martin Eden.

Sushkova argues that Martin Eden is not only Jack London in the past, but also Jack London in the future, and that perhaps with this novel the creator predicts his own tragic fate.

Issues

The novel addresses pressing issues:

love - for example, the description of the love emerging in the soul of Ruth Morse for Martin Eden is typical - the hero “awakened her girlish fears, excited her soul, made her tremble with unfamiliar thoughts and feelings.” At the same time, Martin himself experiences something similar to Ruth: “He did not take his eyes off her and listened to her, and daring thoughts were born in his head.” It was a mutual passion, a desire to be close to each other. But was this a real feeling? Martin, in response to Ruth’s suspicions that the sailor gets himself a wife in every port, replies that he only truly loved her, and he loved her for the first time. However, in the process of reading it turns out that the hero fell in love not with Ruth herself, but with her deified, ideal image. Lizzie Connolly's love turns out to be true, but she is not destined to become the basis of the family. A simple girl from a working-class family is ready to give her life for the sake of her beloved, however, unfortunately, Martin cannot make her happy, because he is “sick” and no longer needs anything from life.
happiness - The hero slept only five hours a day, while working nineteen hours a day, attached lists of new words to the mirror and gradually learned them; I read successful authors and tried to remember their techniques in order to achieve success myself in the future. His will to win and achieve his own goal cannot but command respect. However, education did not bring him happiness, nor did he bring happiness to others through it. On the contrary, the sailor Martin had spiritual harmony, but the writer Eden no longer had it. Therefore, all his work did not bring any benefit even to himself, let alone to society.
hypocrisy - at first we see the negative attitude of others towards Martin and his work. And then we notice how their opinion changes dramatically when he becomes a famous and respected writer.
money and fame - Martin Eden is an individualist, and he wants to start making money with his craft, asking his beloved, Ruth, for two years, during which he will have time, in his opinion, to achieve success. This ambition, as well as the desire to become famous, is actually understandable and worthy of respect. The young man never complained about fate, but simply walked towards his goal, albeit in small steps, but he walked, and, ultimately, achieved what he wanted - received recognition, good earnings, the love of readers, popularity in the press. Only, unfortunately, such success could no longer cause much joy in Martin - due to the hero’s deep disappointment in life.
pettiness and meanness of the world order - one can recall the case when Martin went to the editorial office of the Transcontinental to receive his well-deserved fee of five dollars, and got it with great difficulty, since the employees of the editorial board pretended that they had absolutely no cash. Or the fact that publishing houses, after Martin gained universal fame, immediately began to publish what they had previously rejected. This expresses not only the hypocrisy, but also the corruption of the printed publications - most likely, they sought to print what they had not previously wanted, since Eden’s work caused a real sensation in society.
false stereotypes - for example, this is the discovery Martin made for himself, having gotten to know the Morse family better: “To real literature, real painting, real music, the Morses and others like them are blind and deaf.”
the meaning of life - At first, the meaning of Martin’s life lay in Ruth, in his work, in his friends and family. Gradually, having reached the heights of mastery in writing, the hero begins to become disillusioned with them, he becomes “mentally ill” and can no longer be calm. He never tires of repeating that his work “was already done,” his great works were written before they received recognition and publication. Unable to come to terms with a society that is too cruel, corrupt and petty, the man sees no other way out but to commit suicide. Nietzscheanism and individualism led the hero to a dead end and did not give him the incentive to live further.

The meaning of the book

The main idea of the novel is the statement of a simple but necessary truth: only through hard work can a person achieve anything. But at the same time, one cannot be an ardent individualist without support and support from the people, or like-minded people and close people, otherwise fate can turn out tragically, as happened with Martin. The hero did not think about the good of society, he only wanted to change himself for the better. In this the writer saw selfishness and cowardice, which, taking root in opinion leaders, would destroy society, separating people from each other. That is why London considered it necessary to debunk this point of view, fashionable at that time.

An individualist, seeing the problems of the world around him, ignores them, does not try to correct the situation, concentrating only on personal growth. But if all progressive thinkers, artists, and public figures do this, then indifference will become the new religion of minds and hearts, and thousands of less conscious, less strong people will become its weak-willed victims. The writer contrasts this outcome with the morality of socialism, which provides for freedom, equality and fraternity for all citizens.

What is Martin Eden syndrome?

As noted in the “New Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary” edited by V.I. Borodulin, A.P. Gorkin, A.A. Gusev, N.M. Landa and others, Jack London’s novel tells the story of the fate of a writer from the people who came to tragic disappointment in modern civilization and its intellectual elite. This is the Martin Eden syndrome - when a person strives for some goal, and upon achieving it he begins to realize that he has no reason to live anymore, that everything that he once loved and believed in is a lie, mirages, that are worth no attention.

The Martins’ problem is that they are unable to understand that life consists of successes and failures, there is a lot of both good and bad in it, and in case of successful achievement of any goal, a person has an incentive to develop further, to achieve new heights. There is always something worth living and fighting for - at least for the sake of the people, as Jack London himself argued. The thought that he could benefit people and his country for a long time kept the writer from committing suicide.

However, Martin is not like that. The highest, global goal - serving the people - was not a source of strength and vital energy for him. His joy was personal passions, but no matter how dear they were to his heart, their scale was not comparable to the fate of the nation or the fight against social cataclysms, and these are precisely the issues that should occupy the intelligentsia, according to London. The moral duty of a writer is to rise above vanity, overcome his own ambitions and serve art for the sake of enlightenment and inspiration of the broad masses. Since Martin never realized this, a crisis of disappointment arose in his soul. He threw his whole life, all his talent at the feet of petty love experiences, and devoted himself entirely to them.

But isn't his illness imaginary? After all, as we found out, the hero still had people - such as Joe, Maria, Gertrude or Lizzie Connolly - for whom it was worth living and fighting, and such a strong and intelligent person as Martin Eden was definitely able to do this .

What do Martin Eden and the Scarecrow have in common?

Martin studied a lot to become an educated person, and someone might think that at first he was not so smart, his horizons were narrower or something like that. Perhaps there is some truth in this, but here you can look at it from the other side. Let us remember “The Wizard of the Emerald City” by Alexander Melentyevich Volkov (or “The Wizard of Oz” by Lyman Frank Baum), where the Lion, the Scarecrow and the Lumberjack already initially possessed the qualities that the good Goodwin supposedly gave them. No! In fact, the Lion initially has courage, the Scarecrow has a sharp mind, and the Woodcutter has a kind heart. But they lacked self-confidence. Goodwin gave it to them. And Martin acquired it himself when he began to study. And he began to study because he fell in love. We are ready to go to great lengths for the sake of our loved ones, and Martin was no exception.

conclusions

This work is very bright, full of quotes, with viable images of both workers and representatives of the intelligentsia. Many of the characters evoke a response in our soul, and the text is read in one breath. We see the evolution of the soul of the hero, who grew from a simple sailor to a highly intelligent, eloquent, well-read person. This path was thorny and full of obstacles - Martin went hungry for a long time, slept only five to six hours a day, worked tirelessly, and tirelessly sent manuscripts to magazines and publishing houses. Fame crept up on the young writer untimely, and when it appeared before Eden in all its glory, he no longer had any strength or enthusiasm left to accept it with delight. Something burned out in his soul, he became disillusioned with life; “My work has already been done,” he never ceases to repeat, thereby emphasizing how petty and stupid the society in which he was forced to move was. The novel makes us think about what we live for and warns us that life is often unpredictable. From obscurity to fame there is more than one step, this is understandable, but sometimes how fame comes to a person, and at what cost, makes many people horrified and recoil from their dream come true.

Jack London's novel Martin Eden tells the reader about the fate of the poor sailor Martin Eden. Characters of the novel: main character – Martin Eden; young man Arthur Moroz, his sister Ruth.

... One day on the ferry, Martin Eden, a twenty-year-old sailor, protects a young man, Arthur Moroz, from a gang of hooligans. Arthur is about the same age as Martin, but he belongs to a circle of wealthier and more educated people. As a sign of gratitude, and at the same time for fun, Arthur invites Martin to visit him for lunch. The atmosphere of the house - many paintings, books, a piano - delights and fascinates Martin. And Ruth, Arthur’s sister, makes an amazing impression on him. She seems to him the embodiment of purity, spirituality and divinity. Martin decides to become worthy of this girl. To do this, he goes to the library - hoping, thus, to join the wisdom available to Ruth, Arthur and the like.

Martin enthusiastically immerses himself in the study of literature, language, and the rules of versification. He often communicates with Ruth, she helps him with knowledge. Ruth herself is a conservative girl, she tries to reshape Martin in the image of the people in her circle, but she is not very successful. Having spent all the money he earned on his last voyage, Martin goes to sea again, hiring himself on a ship as a simple sailor. During the long months of sailing, Martin educates himself, enriches his vocabulary, and reads many different books. He feels great strength within himself and one day realizes that he wants to become a writer.

Martin returns to Oakland, writes a feature story about treasure hunters, and submits the manuscript to the San Francisco Observer. After this, he sits down to the story of the whalers. Soon he meets Ruth, shares his plans with her, but the girl does not share his ardent hopes. However, she is pleased with the changes happening to him: Martin began to speak much more correctly and dress better. Ruth is in love with Martin, but her own concepts about life do not allow her to realize this. Ruth thinks Martin needs to study. Martin takes his high school exams but fails miserably in all subjects. Besides grammar. This failure does not disappoint him much, but Ruth is saddened. None of Martin's works sent to magazines and newspapers have been published; they are all returned by mail without any explanation. Martin decides that the problem is that they are handwritten. He rents a typewriter and learns to type. Soon he discovers the books of Herbert Spencer, this gives him the opportunity to see the world in a new way. However, Ruth does not share his passion for Spencer. Then Martin reads his stories to her, but even here Ruth finds many shortcomings and completely does not notice the author’s talent.

Soon Martin runs out of money earned from his voyage. Martin gets a job in the laundry ironing clothes. This work exhausts him insanely, he stops reading books, and one day off he gets drunk, like in the old days. Martin realizes that nothing will change in his life this way and leaves the laundry.

Martin Eden is a character in the novel of the same name by an English writer. A man of a working profession fulfilled his dream by achieving recognition in his creativity. However, wealth and fame did not bring the man the expected satisfaction.

History of character creation

The seminal novel (year of writing - 1908), created by the writer after a two-year sea voyage, was published as a separate book by Macmillan Publishers.

London's novel found favor with the reading public because he created a character endowed with the traits of an ordinary mortal man. The work, imbued from cover to cover with philosophical motives, tells about the life path of a former sailor: about the ups and downs, joys and disappointments.

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Martin Eden and Ruth
The history of the creation of the novel is inextricably linked with the creative problems of Jack London. It is believed that the main character of the work is similar to the writer himself. Just like the author, Martin devoted most of his life to creativity, working and diligently seeking recognition. In addition, both of these personalities in their path went against established literary trends.
There is even a concept called “Martin Eden Syndrome”. The characteristic of the expression means devastation and boredom after achieving what you want. People with this syndrome make plans for the future, expecting that on one specific day they will be happy. Needless to say, the result is often sad. This is what happened to the hero of the novel.
Biography and image of Martin Eden
The main character is a young sailor, approximately 21 years old, who cannot boast of wealthy parents. The main character learned early what it was like to earn his living through his own labor.
The novel begins with Martin protecting a certain Arthur Morse, who was used to living in grand style, from a gang of hooligans on a ferry. As a sign of gratitude, and at the same time wanting to amuse the family with an eccentric acquaintance, Arthur invited the savior to the family mansion.
On this day, the sailor's worldview was turned upside down. The fact is that the young man saw Arthur’s sister, Ruth, who appeared in his imagination as the embodiment of beauty and spirituality. Since then, Eden has tried in every way to woo this girl, and at the same time find his place in the sun.
To get one step closer to Arthur and Ruth, who are studying at the university, Eden goes to the library to learn the basics of science. The multifaceted literary world so attracted a person who had recently watched the sea waves from a ship that ultimately he could not be torn away from the book.

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Ruth, a girl of conservative and narrow views, helped him in his self-education. The beauty tried in every possible way to “reshape” the fan to fit her social circle, but she was unable to do so.
After the budget was depleted, the man set sail again to earn money for a living. Over eight months of travel, the young man enriched his vocabulary and expanded his knowledge base.
Martin returned from his voyage not as a rough sailor, but as a man with a cherished dream. His goal is to become a writer. He learned that authors were paid decent fees, and he also wanted Ruth to admire the beauty of this world with him.
Returning to Auckland, the protagonist sits down to write essays; stories about unprecedented treasures and adventurers come out of his pen. Ruth is pleased with the changes taking place with Eden (the girl is in love, but due to her character and upbringing she does not immediately realize this), however, she does not share his attempts to gain literary recognition.
On the advice of Ruth, who sees the guy as a “savage,” Eden takes the high school exams, but fails all subjects except grammar. This upsets the girl, which cannot be said about a lover. The young man is ready to go towards his goal, despite the obstacles.
Unfortunately, publishers reject the first manuscripts. The guy suggests that the situation will improve if the materials sent are not handwritten. Then the young man buys a typewriter, learns to type, and works on self-improvement every free minute.

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Eden does not lose hope and sends his letters to editors, and his good health allows him to sleep five hours a day. It would seem that luck is on Martin's side: he becomes an experienced writer, and Ruth, despite the social gap between them, realizes that she is in love.
Soon a dark streak appears in the character’s biography: the writer participates in a political rally, criticizing the views of anarchists and socialists. But the novice gossip hunter turned everything upside down in his article, dubbing Eden a socialist. After seeing the publication, Ruth sends a letter where she writes about the breakup.
After the conflict with Martin, the journalist took everything to heart and, in retaliation, began spreading provocative rumors about him. This does not interfere with Eden's career, since, by coincidence, magazines begin to publish his works. But suddenly a man faced with success lives by inertia and stops enjoying money, fame, and his new friends.
Now he is famous, but writing becomes deeply indifferent to him. Neither his new lover nor the unexpected return of Ruth touches his heart.
At the end of the novel, the literary figure decides to move to an island in the Pacific Ocean. On the boat he has a feeling that he is unable to describe in words. Now the writer knows what he really wants. The man goes out onto the deck and throws himself into the water. Only on the second attempt does he manage to defeat the instinct of self-preservation.
Those who have lost the meaning of life die without finding answers to their questions. As if following a quote from the book “A man who does not strive for life seeks ways to die,” the hero found a new goal and immediately fulfilled it. Jack London does not say that the sailor's path is inherently disastrous, but the description of the character's life path is the best illustration.
Martin Eden in films
In 1918, a film adaptation based on the novel by Jack London, “Not Born for Money,” was released. It is noteworthy that the script was written by Vladimir Mayakovsky, the futurist poet also played the main role.