Jack London's Martin Eden: The Annotated Edition

Once Martin Eden makes up his mind to do something, there is no stopping him. Jack London modeled this man of all trades, whose experience is far greater than his 20 years, on himself in the semi-autobiographical novel Martin Eden, first published in 1909. As the story opens, Martin gets himself invited to dinner with an upper-class family, the Morses, after he rescues Arthur Morse from what would have been a nasty fight. There Martin observes a better way of life and decides to attain it for himself. He is motivated still more by an ill-fated (and rather depressing) infatuation over Arthur's sister Ruth, a pale complexioned, well educated but overly protected bourgeois woman of 23.

Martin has had his share of adventures in life, as a sailor, cowboy, smuggler, and gang leader, by the time the story begins; some of these he recollects during the novel, but the conflict driving the novel is chiefly internal — the true life-or-death battle takes place inside the mind of Martin Eden. This conflict sufficiently carries the story, which London intended as an elevation of socialism over individualism (though the degree to which London manages to convey this is somewhat debatable).

As Martin educates himself, he decides to pursue a career as a writer. His family believes it to be some sort of pipe dream; Ruth and her family would rather he took a more respectable career as a lawyer, a politician, or even a post office worker, to make him better suited for bourgeois society (never mind that they consider Martin completely ineligible socially as a mate for Ruth).

Though he has a great mind and remarkable potential, Martin's early writing endeavors meet rejection. As Martin battles, often just to keep himself from going under, on this quest to become the Nietzchean "superman," the question becomes, "Will the strong survive?" It is soon apparent that Martin must find a place where he can happily belong if he is to survive in life.

Martin discovers along the way that he belongs neither with the simple-minded workers of his past nor with the complacent bourgeoisie. His struggle for success as a writer is coupled with the struggles for self-discovery and for finding the higher level of companionship he greatly desires. Ruth waffles between recognizing her own feelings of love for Martin and succumbing to her parents' manipulative whims; the effect on Martin is similar to when a child repeatedly calls a friendly dog chained to its doghouse. It takes the intelligent but naïve Martin nearly the length of the novel to realize how mentally and emotionally inferior Ruth actually is to him. He finds a kindred spirit in the ailing poet and free spirit Russ Brissenden, but this is fated only to be a temporary source of relief.

The novel's annotations are written by Dr. Dennis E. Hensley, who has written numerous articles on the life and works of Jack London and has taught this particular novel many times to college students, including at Oxford University. This is the first annotated edition of the novel ever published. Dr. Hensley's annotations comment on certain specific similarities between the lives of Eden and London, in instances where London has woven pieces of his life directly into the story. He also points out the significant divergences that London makes from the events of his own life. These bits of background information on London, as well as general history relevant to the story, make up what the most interesting portion of the annotations, although the critical analysis of the writing style, story structure, use of symbolism, and character development are both accurate and significant.

Dr. Hensley identifies parallels between the philosophies expressed in Martin Eden and those found in London's other well-known works, such as The Call of the Wild, The Sea-Wolf, and White Fang. Readers will thus get a good feel for London's favorite topics and philosophies. Some will be especially interested in Dr. Hensley's analysis of London's allusions to the Bible — as well as remarks on the mysterious phrase, "God's own mad lover," the origin and meaning of which still puzzle London scholars.

The novel holds particular relevance for those contemplating a career in writing. Writers who are beginning or have already attained a career in the field will identify with Martin's toils in the literary world. For other readers, it holds its own simply as a solid character-driven story.