THE UNIVERSITY

Having returned to Oakland after spending thirty days in the Erie County Penitentiary, Jack London got behind the books. He firmly decided to finish school and to enter the university. He mastered knowledge with exceptional persistence, spending days and nights reading. The Aegis, the Oakland High School magazine, published his travel stories, which he called "Frisco Kid Stories." The economic crisis and the depression that followed it brought grief and suffering to American families. The progressive people found ways to eliminate the existing injustices. Socialist and Marxist ideas were being discussed among workers and intelligentsia. The representatives of different schools of thought were organizing and involving themselves in discussions: nationalists (the followers of the utopist Edward Bellamy), anarchists, populists (the supporters of the Agrarian Party), and others. The socialist movement was entering its infancy; it was very isolated and weak. It was not easy to evaluate the advantages presented by each school of thought, which were frequently covered with fancy words. Jack London wanted to find the right way.

He participated in discussions and read brochures attempting to understand and to fully comprehend the terminology, to contemplate where each theory would ultimately lead its followers. One of his friends advised London to read The Communist Manifesto. This little book answered many of the questions that had puzzled him during his travels. London even made notes that explained the necessity of overthrowing the existing regime, and he gained a new perspective on events and the development of history. He underlined the phrase "Workers of the World Unite!" Jack remembered these words for the rest of his life, and repeatedly used them in his lectures and articles.

As a student, Jack participated in meetings and street gatherings. For this, he even earned a nickname: the "boy socialist." His first article, "Optimism, Pessimism, and Patriotism," appeared in Aegis. It stated that people in power do not let the masses become educated because they fear that knowledge will stir the spirit of protest. Jack London pointed out the social and moral degradation of the country, and called the patriots to wake up, to grab the reins of power from a corrupt government, and hand them to the people.

In those years, he became a member of a Socialist Worker's Party. He met with the revolution-minded workers and intelligentsia, with people of strong and cheerful spirit. Later on, they would become the heroes of The Iron Heel, and of the short stories "The Mexican," "The Dream of Debs," and "South of the Slot." It is about them that he wrote in "What Life Means to Me" the immortal words: "Here [among socialists and revolutionists] I found, also, warm faith in the human, glowing idealism, sweetness of unselfishness, renunciation and martyrdom — all the splendid, stinging things of the spirit. Here life was clean, noble, and alive. Here life rehabilitated itself, became wonderful and glorious; and I was glad to be alive. I was in touch with great souls who exalted flesh and spirit over dollars and cents; and to whom the thin wail of the starved slum-child meant more than all the pomp and circumstance of commercial expansion and world-empire."

In 1895, at a meeting in the central square of Oakland City Hall Park, London gave a speech against capitalism, with the invitation to establish a new, just social system called socialism. At this speech, he was arrested for the second time in his life. London also was a member of other various interest groups. In one, he studied poetry and art; in another—political economy and philosophy. He wrote articles for the local newspapers, and he studied and worked at the same time. In the literary study group, he met Mabel Applegarth — blonde, blue-eyed student at the University of California-Berkeley. For London, Applegarth seemed to be the personification of tenderness and refinement. During passionate discussions on art, he could not take his eyes off her inspired face, her big, sparkling eyes. But Mabel was not London's first crush. Two years earlier, he had been under the spell of the beautiful, dark-haired Haydee. Again, he did not know what to talk about or how to conduct himself. This time, the familiar feeling was colored with the charm of Mabel's intelligence, as well as her taste, the comfort of her rich house. It was as if he could not resist something lofty, to which his poetic soul was drawn irrepressibly. Because he did not want to look clumsy in the eyes of his beloved he studied books on the rules of good form. Mabel's brother Edward taught him to play chess. Mabel helped him to choose interesting books and to improve his speech.

The two were so opposite physically: robust, broad-shouldered, rough Jack, and little, fragile Mabel. She was also shy around him. An unknown trembling enveloped her. It was not long before their affections for each other were mutual. The following months at high school were not very productive. At this slow rate of learning, London would have to do something to better prepare himself for the university. He left high school and entered the intense learning academy, but soon left it as well. Studying for twelve hours a day, he covered a two-year program in three months, and passed the entrance exams for the University of California-Berkeley.

The University is located on the slopes of the Berkeley Hills, in an oak grove. There, he could get comfortable on the soft grass and read philosophical works which grabbed his attention. He read, for example, the works of Herbert Spencer and the poems of Rudyard Kipling. It was wonderful to watch the autumn wind blowing leaves off the trees and swinging them in the warm, aromatic breeze before bringing them to rest on the ground.

London attended lectures on philosophy, history, literature, English, biology, and he also studied French. His extraordinary abilities, determination and persistence showed their result: he excelled ahead of those his in his class. In order to pay for his schooling, he had to work. However, it did not lead him to abandon his social activities. He continued to give speeches in street meetings. At the university, people looked at him suspiciously as if he were a revolutionary or a "Red." After successfully passing the exams on European history, he had to leave the university just after completing his first semester. His stepfather became ill and the family financial condition worsened.