Instant He Knew, He Ceased to Know.

¶ … instant he knew, he ceased to know.

Throughout the history of literature, authors have used their works to underscore beliefs that they hold dear. This can happen whether the work is fiction, non-fiction or a combination of both. The work of the author can illustrate a point by using obvious comparisons and angles or it can use a more subtle approach such as metaphors or other methods of illustration.

Even when the work is fiction, often times the true feelings and beliefs of the author are interlaced throughout the story. When someone writes a story their life experiences and events come into play even if it is on a subconscious level.

Jack London was an author whose work was originally taken at face value and it was only after his death that the world began to analyze and see the underpinnings of his meanings. He wrote books about things he knew well. He penned the Call of the Wild which became one of the most well-known works of fiction in recent literary history. While London is well-known for the stories he penned the one book that is perhaps the most deeply written piece of his life is often overlooked at a masterpiece of literary art. Martin Eden is London's work of self-reflection. It is a book that is self-analyzing, biographical and sensitive in nature.

Jack London was a fan of a theorist named Friedrich Nietzsche who examined the need of mankind to have religion. This paper will compare London's novel, Martin Eden, to the theory of Nietzsche regarding religion. The paper will focus on the final statement of the novel which reads, "And at the instant he knew, he ceased to know."

For the purpose of the paper the similarities between the protagonist and the seeking of God in the Christian faith will be discussed. In addition the life of London as well as the belief's of his favorite theorist will be discussed and used to illustrate the book's underlying meaning.

Examples from the book will be used to make the point that the semi-autobiographical account of Martin Eden really illustrates the theory of Nietzsche about mankind developing religion because it needs religion but as mankind embraces and immerses itself in the faith that it follows it comes full circle and the instant it knows, it ceases to know.

The paper is going to take the book apart and illustrate the love Martin feels for Ruth, her lifestyle and her family is metaphorically similar to the embracement of born again Christians who discover God. As the protagonist. Martin, idolizes, studies, embraces and understands Ruth and her family she loses her all knowing aura, much in the same way many people come to believe religion and God are mankind's invention.

INTRODUCTION

The literary world is a world that interlaces fact and fiction even when it is a fictional piece of work. The world of literature is really no more than the feelings, opinions and ideas of the authors who pen the work between the binded covers. The work that is produced by authors in the world of literature takes the reader on an exploratory journey of the author's heart and mind.

The author cannot help but intertwine portions of his or her soul with the work produced. It is often unconscious and many times it is not truly discovered and analyzed for years after the work has been published. Many times the story has to be read several times before the underpinnings can be truly visualized and appreciated. Once the true foundation is discovered it becomes obvious to those who read the book or story. One of Jack London's masterpiece novels involves a three pronged underpinning.

The first thing the story does is present the reader with the career of the author through the eyes and life of its protagonist Martin Eden. The second thing it does is allow the total exploration and comparison of the storyline to the theory of London's favorite theorist Frederic Nietzsche regarding religion and mankind's understanding of religion. The final thing the story does is create an understanding of the point mankind understands religion so well that it becomes obvious it is a falsehood. The final line of the book is "And at the instant he knew, he ceased to know." The entire book once compared to the Nietzsche theory of religion's origin and reason for existence is contained within this final line.

Jack London was arguably one of the most deeply founded authors of recent history. His books provide understanding and entertainment on several levels. While he was alive he spent years being underappreciated and misunderstood. His works were often criticized as being amateur or juvenile. It was only in his later life and after his death that the true genius of his talent began to be understood. London crafted stories that provided understandings of theories that were from many of the most forward thinkers of his time. He used fictional plots to illustrate the ideas that underscored those he shared opinions with.

One of the people that jack London admired most was Frederick Nietzsche. Nietzsche presented his ideas to the world in a dry and no nonsense approach. He was a believer in mankind developing whatever skills it needs to survive both mentally and emotionally. One of the things Nietzsche promoted was the idea that religion is a man invented concept for the purpose of self comfort. According to the theory, religion is the method by which mankind addresses the inevitable, death. It is also the method mankind uses to explain the self-reflection and understanding of existence that the world uses to move forward.

Nietzsche's theory is developed in his work called "Beyond Man." It allows for the possibility that man invented God as well as spiritual faith and religion so that mankind can feel okay about its eventual and individually carried out demise. Dying and death are very scary ideas for man to grasp and the questions becomes, what is the point of working hard and having goals in life if the end result is death with no after life. The theory believes that mankind invented religion and death for the purpose of counteracting such a bleak future and it allows the world to move forward as if there is a final purpose for its existence.

The afterlife and spiritual questions that have been asked and studied throughout history have been examined from almost every angle. Those who believe in God and the purpose of life based on that God believe that there is an afterlife for eternity. There are other faiths that believe different variations of the same faith. Some religions believe that man is reincarnated and comes back over and over again until he gets it right. Other faiths believe that when one dies they go to a holding place where they wait until judgment day to get into heaven or hell. Other faiths believe that one becomes another dimension and remains on earth as a spirit.

Regardless of the belief held by those who follow a faith the belief is that there is a divine being or beings responsible for man's existence and that the spiritual world awaits each person who dies in whatever form the faith follows as true.

Frederick Nietzsche believed that man invented religion to feel better. The more evolved man gets the more scientific the progress becomes and the advent of religious faith abounds. According to Nietzsche man invents religion as a way to self soothe the truth of death and the finality of its existence.

The book by Jack London provides a blueprint explanation of the theory by using the characters as various historical points of religious faith.

CHAPTER ONE

WHO WAS JACK LONDON?

Before one can begin to fully understand and appreciate the way Martin Eden illustrates the statement, "And the instant he knew, he ceased to know" by Jack London one should have a firm grasp about London himself. It is important for one to understand an author if one wants to be able to recognize the underpinnings of the story one studies. In this case it becomes especially germane to the topic at hand because the book Martin Eden has long since been believed to be a semi-autobiographical account of the way London viewed himself, those around him and his life. This comes into play when the protagonist develops an obsessive fascination with Ruth in the same way Nietzsche believes man gets an obsessive fascination with religion.

Jack London's Life (http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/London/jackbio.html)

Jack London came to be the person he was by the life experiences that he had as a child and as an adult. Understanding these events help the reader to understand how he came to admire Nietzsche and how he came to pen Martin Eden as an illustration of Nietzsche's theory regarding the need for mankind to have a religion to cling to for self preservation.

Jack London was born John Griffith London.

He was born in the city of San Francisco. When he was born his mother was unmarried and it has never been clear who his father was though there has been speculation that it may have been William Chaney who was an attorney and a journalist in the area. This is an extremely important aspect of the author's life in regards to the later masterpiece called Martin Eden. London was born in an era where having unmarried parents carried a stigma. It caused society to frown on the child and the child grew up knowing that he or she was viewed as substandard because the parents of the child were not married. The child grew up feeling left out of many things in society. As the reader gets into the Martin Eden story it becomes evident that the protagonist feels second class. It becomes obvious that he does not feel he is equal to those like Ruth and her family.

This may be an extension of the way London felt in real life. He was illegitimate during a time when it was not acceptable to be illegitimate. The story of Martin Eden underscores the shame and uncertainty of being illegitimate at that time.

While he was illegitimate his father was a brilliant many. Chaney was one of the leading developers in America about astronomy. When Jack was born his real name was John Griffith London and his mother was very unhealthy. He was raised instead by a former slave called Virginia Prentiss.

Late in 1876, Flora married John London, a partially disabled Civil War veteran. The family moved around the Bay area before settling in Oakland, where Jack completed grade school. Though the family was working class, it was not so impoverished as London's later accounts claimed."

This too is an important fact to understand when it came to the life of London. The way he remembered and perceived his life to be for his youth is the reflection of the way he felt about himself most likely. He viewed himself as substandard after enduring the knowledge that he was not legitimate and his mother had so many health problems that he had to be raised by a former slave, during a time when former slaves were still treated no better than animals. All of these factors of his early years may have played a part in who he saw himself to be in relation to the rest of the world.

After working many odd jobs London figured out that he was destined to become a factory worker or laborer if he did not come up with a better way to make a living. The read constantly and had since he was a boy therefore he made a purposeful choice to become a writer. He was not like other writers who have been said to have a burning need to write whether or not they would ever be paid for their efforts. He was a man who had grown up in a working class family, with shaky beginnings who knew he was destined to a life of blue collar jobs unless he found a different path. He chose writing because he loved to read so much and believed it would be easy for him to adapt to as a career.

This is another area of the book Martin Eden where the author uses his own life to develop the main character.

He studied other writers and began to submit stories, jokes, and poems to various publications, mostly without success. Spending the winter of 1897 in the Yukon provided the metaphorical gold for his first stories, which he began publishing in the Overland Monthly in 1899. From that point he was a highly disciplined writer, who would produce over fifty volumes of stories, novels, and political essays. Although The Call of the Wild (1903) brought him lasting fame, many of his short stories deserve to be called classics, as does his critique of capitalism and poverty in The People of the Abyss (1903), and his stark discussion of alcoholism in John Barleycorn (1913). London's long voyage (1907-09) across the Pacific in a small boat provided material for books and stories about Polynesian and Melanesian cultures. He was instrumental in breaking the taboo over leprosy and popularizing Hawaii as a tourist spot."

Among the things that London supported in his life were socialism, women's suffrage and prohibition. One of the most important things that London supported was the theory by Nietzsche involving religion.

His socialism was fervent, but countered by his strong drive toward individualism and capitalist success. These contradictory themes in his life and writing make him a difficult figure to reduce to simple terms."

The contradiction becomes evident throughout Martin Eden because the protagonist reaches for success financially in a capitalist world while learning about the hypocrisy of elite society. He ultimately becomes so disillusioned that he commits suicide. This two pronged belief system that he developed can be explained because of the insecurity he felt about his humble beginnings. It caused him to want to succeed financially but his heart's beliefs and the depths of his soul wanted to go in a different direction.