Martin Eden

Martin Eden, by Jack London, (The MacMilliam Company, 1909) tells the story of a young writer trying to impress Ruth, a young woman he loves, by becoming a successful author. Through a rigorous self-education process, Martin hopes she will be attracted to his esteem as a literary giant. Eventually, Ruth loses patience with waiting for Martin to achieve success and rejects him in a letter that leaves the poor flailing writer despondent and suicidal. Never a fan of female rights, London outdoes himself in this saga, extolling the virtues of motherhood, family rearing by women and the need for subservience in all members of the fairer sex. Although the novel may be understandable in context to the time period in which it was written, the conclusion to Martin Eden, through tragic, seems appropriate to our present understanding of feminism, at least in some sectors of 21st Century America.