Martin Eden

Martin Eden is one of the greatest works of Jack London. The partly autobiographical novel first appeared in 1909. It is the story of an uneducated, uncouth, but worldly-wise young man who strives heroically for the affections of a girl from the upper class. Martin Eden is believed to be the only through the attainment of education and respect worthy of the love of the young Ruth Morse. But he can not afford school and no teacher and decides therefore to inform himself even self-taught. In this way is it stories that are worth it reveal to be told stories about his own life and that of others, stories told by his experiences in a social layer that frowned upon by Ruth, her parents, her brothers and their social environment will.

Content

Martin learns undeterred and thereby acquires Ruth's affection and love. He decides henceforth prefer writers as a bank employee, teacher, or to his attorney. The greater his dedication to tell is to use the newly acquired knowledge, the refinement of his language, expressiveness and ability to his fictional and the autobiographical stories that lend his past as a sailor, a voice, and the greater his knowledge in secular secular matters, the more developed to be in it until then dormant talent.

The self -taught training Martin Eden is put to the test when he is first introduced to the lively, educated friends and teachers Ruth. Martin discovers that his knowledge can not only keep pace with those who had obtained their school records in the usual way, but he has lent to his own education a better understanding of life and politics, his independent work. Eden will be even more confident that he can write and will sell his stories - in short, that he can talk as a writer. However, it is discouraged by his own family, and even worse, after Eden had made this self-taught masterpiece of self- training, including Ruth and her parents.

Martin fights for Ruth's support in that he discussed it with her, his works, inviting them to use their own critical intelligence to confirm for themselves that the stories of the man who loves them, have a value and that others will read it. Eden puts his writing continued to publish with an almost obsessive self-confidence that at the reject the editors with each passing day his stories seems to be even stronger.

Dedicated to the letter with every hour, yet without an audience for his stories, Martin becomes the poor man and thus unacceptable for Ruth's environment. It does not take long and is rejected by Ruth Martin, her parents and the socially prominent friends of her family. His stories remain unpublished.

But just as the rejection is greatest and its future is under enormous threat to the long-awaited success comes suddenly but. However, this will turn out in the end only as the most sustainable stroke of fate, must endure the Eden in his life. One of Martin's obscure manuscripts, with an extremely philosophical undertone and not one of his best works will be published and acclaimed by the establishment. He is the author to tear the now, the same publisher that it previously had most consistently and repeatedly rejected. They now offer him unprecedented high prices for his stories. But this time he has to write up long ago. He is physically weakened by recurring and financially -related hunger phases, emotionally drained and at the time of his success, a beaten man. His defeat is so perfect and is so deeply felt by him that can cheer him up no more success. He is invited to social gatherings socially prominent citizens as guest of honor, but can not overcome, that there are one and the same people who have eluded him before his publicly recognized success as a writer due to its insignificant origin and social position of knowledge.

Martin says, " they now accept me around for a job well done ." It is now accepted without reservation by Ruth and her family, back when he still seemed to drown as an unknown author in poverty for the same work, the exact same capabilities and stories for which he was ridiculed before. Martin is fully aware that the love and affection of Ruth only based on his new fame.

Time comparison - the world then and now

Martin Eden's success is indeed well deserved, but the experience of being rejected, helps him to the knowledge of the falsity of Fame. Martin knows that the absence of his social acceptance, Ruth and the others had incapacitated in their environment, to recognize what is truly valuable. Ruth was only able to love Martin, after all the rest of the world had confirmed what were their education and awareness of their class not prepared to accept. Since the goods and truths, ie the quality, can not be measured by the number of publications of an author and thus is not a question of acceptance and awareness of modern mass society, Eden concludes logically that this society simply do not recognize the good and truth can.

Martin Eden's story invites us to be careful to put our trust naively in the knowledge of the establishment. Editors decide what is published, but editors are also contaminated with blindness and ignorance, as are Ruth and her family.

Epilogue

The moral of the story of Martin Eden is not that good will ultimately win. Although the reader to Martin Eden's sake longs for a happy ending, Jack London controls his story in a completely different direction. To escape the hypocrisy and hypocrisy of his world, Martin embarks on the steamer " Mariposa ", which has as objective an island in the South Pacific. One night he decides, driven by an ever -increasing indifference of the world and his own life over to leave the ship on the high seas to drown in the sea. Softly he glides through the porthole of his cabin in the dark waters of the ocean, while the Mariposa going towards their goal.

Martin Eden's success shows us how we judge whether something is good and harmful as the society (in particular forms of social consciousness ) and pass false opinions in judging whether something (or someone ) is valuable or truthful. The story of Martin Eden - a story about the desire of the formation, on the material poverty and the realization of the poverty of social values ​​- is a story about the ethics of humanity. Martin Eden fails by reaching his goal. It is a failure of our world in which the skills and knowledge will only be accepted if they are perceived by each establishment is right. It is not just a problem with which a writer looking dealing according to his audience, but a problem with which each of us has to face at some time, in search of those others who recognize the truth in his words.

Adaptations

The novel was adapted several times for film or television. In 1914, was directed by Hobart Bosworth, a film adaptation of the Jack London himself cooperated, and can also be seen in the film. 1942, followed by The Adventures of Martin Eden with Glenn Ford in the role of Martin Eden and 1979, the four-part television movie Martin Eden. In this co-production of RAI and ZDF Martin Eden is portrayed by Christopher Connelly.

Expenditure

• Jack London Martin Eden, ISBN 9968-9950-6-1 ( online copy at Project Gutenberg )