Date of publication: 10/12/16 Very often people dream of a window. This symbol...
One day on the ferry, Martin Eden, a twenty-year-old sailor, 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 person. 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 has begun to express his thoughts much more correctly, dresses better, etc. Ruth is in love with Martin , but her own concepts of life do not give her the opportunity to realize this). Ruth believes Martin needs to study and he takes his high school exams, but fails miserably in every subject except grammar. Martin is not very 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. It’s just that this doesn’t 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 to earn money. He rents a tiny room from the Portuguese Maria Silva. His strong health allows him to sleep only five hours a day. 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, even 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 would have to pay a hundred. Martin, weakened from grief, falls ill. 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. Extorting money from them for publications is not an easy task. 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. 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. 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, touch him. 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.
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, disappointment awaited the young man: 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 meeting, 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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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 meeting, 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.
Retold
In 1909, one of Jack London's most famous books was published. It became popular not only in the writer’s homeland, but also far beyond its borders. Including in Russia. The book is called Martin Eden. A summary of the novel is presented in the article.
Meet the Morse family
The action of the work takes place at the beginning of the twentieth century. The main character of the novel is a simple guy, a sailor. His name is Martin Eden. The summary of the first chapter can be formulated as follows: a guy accidentally meets a representative of aristocratic society, after which he ends up in a house where he encounters a beautiful, sophisticated world, hitherto unknown to him.
Martin is a sailor. He is twenty years old. One day he protects Arthur Morse, a young man who belongs to high society, from hooligans. He invites his savior home as a sign of gratitude. It is worth saying that Morse is not guided by noble feelings. He wants to amuse his household. After all, Martin worked as a sailor for many years. It is difficult for him to formulate his thoughts. And he only read a couple of books in his entire life. Martin finds himself in Arthur's house, and the first thing that strikes him is the library. The second is a beautiful girl named Ruth.
At Arthur's house, Martin meets his relatives. Morse's sister, Ruth, is a typical representative of American bourgeois society. She is educated, but her outlook on life is rather limited. Martin falls in love with Ruth. The girl is interested in the young man. But the problem is that they speak different languages. Ruth - on the sublime, aristocratic. Martin - in the language of a sailor.
Self improvement
In order to conquer Ruth, he goes to the library, where he begins to frantically study the works of great writers. Martin's diligence is enviable. He reads everything, from the works of ancient philosophers to the prose of modern authors. Over time, his studies become more systematic. And he, to the surprise of those around him, decides to change his profession. From now on, the sailor is engaged in writing.
Literary creativity
In writing poetry and prose, Martin relies on life experience, which he has quite richly. In addition, the young man has amazing endurance: he only needs five hours of sleep a day to regain his strength. The rest of the time is spent on self-improvement.
Martin, despite his daily activities, regularly meets with Ruth and becomes increasingly attached to her. But there is a social gap between them. They are people from different worlds. No matter how many books Martin reads, he is unlikely to ever marry an aristocratic girl.
Obscurity
Months and years pass. Martin has written more than a dozen works, but publishing houses do not want to publish his works. Humorous poems, which, in his opinion, certainly should have been published by magazines specializing in entertaining reading, are also not successful. But Martin does not lose heart and continues to write.
Love
Romantic motives are secondary in the plot of the novel Martin Eden. A summary of Jack London's work gives an idea of what idea the writer sought to convey to readers. The image of Ruth in the book is only a symbol of pompous aristocratic society, in which it is not the individual who is valued, but money, fame, and position in society. Still, we should talk about the relationship of this heroine with Martin.
They spend a lot of time together. The girl gradually becomes attached to the aspiring writer, which, however, does not prevent her from criticizing his works. At first, Ruth tries to drown out her feelings for him. But sooner or later she realizes that she is in love. Parents, for obvious reasons, do not approve of their daughter’s choice, but do not openly interfere. The Morses are trying in every possible way to portray Martin in an unfavorable light.
Every evening, representatives of high society visit Ruth’s house: young people who have achieved success or are actively pursuing a career. Martin is among them. This is part of Ruth's parents' evil plan. A girl must see her lover next to more educated, wealthy and successful people in order to feel the difference, become disappointed in Martin and break up with him. But this, contrary to the Morse plan, does not happen.
Russ Brissenden
At one of these evenings, Martin one day meets a person who will later influence his work. His name is Russ Brissenden. This young man is terminally ill. He, like Martin, writes poetry and is interested in philosophy. Brissenden has a huge influence on Eden's views. He highly appreciates Martin's work, but advises him not to write low-quality opuses for magazines, but to compose for himself.
One day Brissenden gives Martin one of his poems to read. This work leaves an indelible impression on the former sailor. He understands that before him is a real masterpiece of literature. But Brissenden is against publication. As a result, Martin, secretly from his friend, takes the poem to the publishing house.
In the laundry room
Key events from the author's life formed the basis of the plot of the novel Martin Eden. A brief biography of London tells that the writer often did odd jobs. And we are not talking about low-grade love stories, which at one time saved the American prose writer from hunger. He worked as a loader, a factory worker, and an ironer in the Jack London laundry. Martin Eden, like his author, temporarily abandons literary creativity. The money has dried up, the works are not being published. Martin gets a job in a laundry, where the hard work exhausts him both physically and mentally.
In the laundry you have to work eighteen hours a day. This hellish work deafens Martin, and he decides to quit it and return to literary work again.
Socialist
"Martin Eden" is a partly autobiographical book. Jack London, like his hero, comes from the lower classes. But, unlike his character, the writer was a true socialist. Martin Eden is a pronounced individualist. Nevertheless, one day, at Brissenden’s invitation, he finds himself at a socialist rally. This event causes the final break with Ruth.
Death of Brissenden
Ress is hopelessly ill. At the same time, at the time of meeting Martin, he gives the impression of a man who loves life in all its manifestations. But tuberculosis, which is gradually killing Bressinden, also deprives him of mental strength. Martin's friend commits suicide. After some time, a poem appears in one of the literary magazines - the same one that Martin Eden dreamed of publishing. Critics' reviews of this work are extremely negative. Martin is relieved that the author of the poem will never read these angry reviews.
Glory
"Martin Eden" is a book about a self-made man. His works are finally starting to be published. Fame comes to him. People who previously considered him a slacker and an upstart suddenly begin to pay attention to him. But Martin, after the death of his friend, decides to end his writing career. In addition, he is now popular and wealthy. He is often invited to parties and banquets. He is offered membership in a variety of respected clubs. The heads of the publishing house literally inundate him with letters.
But Eden is indifferent to all this. Invitations to banquets are puzzling. Martin is mentally devastated. He remembers that before, when he was hungry and in rags, he was not invited to dinner. Although at that moment he really needed it. At the time when he created the works that brought him fame, no one needed him. Time passed, and Eden did not change a single word in his writings. However, he is now a respected man. He is invited, people write about him, he is praised. And even Ruth, who once abandoned him, is now trying to improve relations.
The novel Martin Eden, the analysis of which is briefly presented below, was written under the influence of the works of philosophers such as Nietzsche and Spencer. The hero of the work is a symbol of a strong personality. But this character is somewhat idealized. Martin was able to make his way, he showed superhuman perseverance and achieved what he wanted. But this person is acutely aware of the slightest manifestations of lies. Eden is incapable of living in a world of hypocrisy and false values. He understands that he is now invited to parties only because it is considered fashionable. Becoming a friend of a popular writer is a great honor.
Lizzie Connolly
One day Martin meets this girl. It is noteworthy that their first meeting occurs when he is still unknown. Lizzie does not change her attitude towards him after he becomes a famous writer. She is the only person who understands and loves Martin for who he really is. She is not interested in his fame or money. But even the affection of this sweet, simple girl is not able to save Eden.
Death
Martin goes on a trip to the islands. He spends several days on the ship. And one day suddenly the idea comes to his mind to deceive the will to live. Martin takes a deep breath and dives into the sea. At great depths he takes his breath away, but he is no longer able to rise to the surface. This is how the writer Martin Eden dies.
Analysis
The main thing worth paying attention to in Jack London's work is the evolution of the protagonist's consciousness. The novel “Martin Eden” is a story about a man who achieved an extraordinary amount in a matter of years. At the beginning of the story, the hero is barely able to express his feelings. In the final chapters he is a famous writer. But the work “Martin Eden” is not a happy story about a man who was able to realize the “American Dream” - a concept created twenty years after the novel was written. This is a book about the terrible disappointment of a man who, having traveled a long way, realizes that he was following the wrong route. It is not for nothing that at the end of the novel Martin Eden begins to regret his writing.
