Jack London, An Intellectual Revolutionist essay

In fact, Jack London was an avid socialist and many of his works prove this trend to Socialism, including such works as The Iron Heel, Sea Wolf, and Martin Eden, as well as many others. In this respect, it is possible to refer to the novel by Jack London Sea Wolf. The main character, Wolf Larson stands on the principle of the natural selection and competition between people. He believes that the strongest takes the leading position in the society. In fact, Wolf Larson is the personification of naturalism in views of London but, at the same time, many ideas of Larson are shocking for readers because they are revolutionary in their nature. Wolf Larson stand on the evolutionary ground in his views on relationships between people but, on the other hand, he is a revolutionary character in terms of neglect and disrespect of strives and pursuits of people of his time, whose only goal is to eat better and to take a possibly superior position compared to other people. Through this character, Jack London reveals his disrespect to capitalism and Wolf Larson reveals the ugliness of capitalism. In this respect, it is quite symbolic that Wolf Larson is a negative character because it is the negative character, who can reveal the full extent to which capitalism is ugly and dehumanizing.

At the same time, Jack London created many other literary works, where his socialist views are particularly strong. In this respect, it is possible to refer to The Iron Heel. The Iron Heel is the novel where Jack London explicitly presents his socialist views. He depicts his vision of the future development of the US into the oligarchic tyranny which will be eventually overthrown by the revolution that will bring socialist ideals and values to the US society.  In such a way, Jack London forecasts the future development of the US society and he predicts the downfall of capitalism, which is absolutely dehumanizing and destructive since capitalism is destructive for human relations and is grounded on the exploitation of large masses of people by a few, who control the economic and political life of the country, which London defines as Oligarchy. This novel is a symbolic representation of the US society contemporary to the time of the author. In such a way, he depicted the society that was contemporary to him. London just attempted to foresee the future development of the society, if the capitalist system persists. Taking into consideration the fact that Jack London predicts the downfall of the capitalist system and the revolution that overthrows the capitalist system, it is obvious that the author believes in the social revolution that can overthrow the ruling elite and establish the fair and just society, where there will be no classes and all people will be free and equal.

At the same time, some researchers (Parson, 196) indicate to political literary works and essays written by Jack London, where his inclinations to socialism are obvious. In fact, Jack London created numerous political essays and literary works which clearly indicate to his inclination to socialism and his support of socialism as an alternative to capitalism. In fact, the author believes in the possibility of the establishment of the new socioeconomic and political system which is better than capitalism and which eliminates disparities in the society. However, his political views may be idealistic, especially his belief in the socialism as the best alternative to capitalism. Nevertheless, Jack London was definitely a proponent of socialism.

At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that Jack London recognized his support of socialism in the interview conducted by Ruh, where Jack London criticizes capitalism as unjust system, while socialism allows true harmony and freedom by giving the power to the people and the government (Ruh, 71). In such a way, Jack London openly recognized his dissatisfaction and skepticism in relation to capitalism and his great expectations in relation to socialism.

In such a situation, the question concerning reasons why Jack London was so hopeful in relation to socialism arises. In this regard, it is possible to remind the socioeconomic and political environment, in which Jack London lived. He witnessed the economic crisis which revealed the worst aspects of capitalism. In addition, some researchers (Schwebel, 322) attributes London’s inclination to socialism to his creativity and moral values. He was idealistic in a way, in regard to socialism. His creative nature readily accepted the idea of an ideal society and socioeconomic and political system, where all people are equal and treated fairly.

Finally, in The People OfThe Abyss, Jack London criticizes capitalism that reveals his dissatisfaction with the existing socioeconomic order (Swafford 845). Therefore, Jack London revealed drawbacks of capitalism and implied the necessity of change of the existing socioeconomic order by a just one, such as socialism. In such a situation, socialism was the only possible way out that could bring consistent improvements to the US society and Jack London believed in positive effects of the establishment of socialism in the US.

Thus, Jack London was a proponent of socialism. He was an outstanding writer, who has managed to reveal numerous drawbacks of capitalism and who raised the public opinion against the dehumanizing nature of capitalism. However, he was quite idealistic in his views on socialism. Even though he believed that socialism will replace capitalism, but his views on socialism are quite idealistic. His views were probably the result of the impact of such philosophers as Karl Marx, F. Engels and others, who were very popular in that time. In addition, his personal experience made Jack London very supportive in relation to socialism.



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