A Study Of The Theme Of Alienation In Jack London’s Martin Eden

This thesis is an attempt to explore the theme of Martin Eden, a novel by Jack London. By drawing on Karl Marx’s theory of alienation, the present author argues that the novel, in spite of its superman portrayal of the protagonist, is nevertheless tinted with a strong color of alienation. This is especially evident in the three jobs that the protagonist takes in succession:as sailor, laundryman and writer. None of these jobs is what Martin Eden, the protagonist, really likes. For none of them gives him any sense of contentment or accomplishment and is typical of what Karl Marx describes as "alienation of work from the worker". In fact, they constitute a strong alienating force that finally pushes Martin Eden to his tragic end.The alienation of Martin from his work is not an exception. It is typical of a situation in the capitalist world where work becomes a means of survival, but not a way of self-actualization. Jack London’s portrayal of Martin Eden, therefore, is an authentic representation of the life of many people like Martin Eden, people who struggle for survival by doing things they dislike or even hate. Thus it becomes clear that Jack London’s depiction of the alienating jobs that victimize Martin Eden is an important, if not the most important, theme of the novel, a theme that lends to it a philosophical depth and a sociological profundity which gives an added value to it, in the sense that it brings to light some of the fundamental problems of the capitalist society, though Jack London, just like Martin Eden, fails to work out a solution to them.Structurally, the thesis is divided into four parts with an introduction and a conclusion. The introduction briefly introduces the author, the novel and the structure of the thesis. Part One gives an overview of the status quo of studies of Jack London and his Martin Eden at home and abroad. It is noted in this part that there has been very few studies on Martin Eden from the perspective of Marx’s theory of alienation, hence the originality of the present study. Part Two introduces the theoretical framework of this paper-Karl Marx’s theory of alienation. Part Three analyzes the alienated nature of the three different occupations that Martin takes and points out that they are all typical of what Karl Marx describes as alienation of the worker from the work, alienation of the worker from working, alienation of the worker from himself and alienation of the worker from other workers. Part Four explores the root cause of Martin’s tragedy and points out that his suicide is an inevitable result of his futile efforts to fight off the sense of alienation. The conclusion sums up the main findings of the thesis and maintains that the novel Martin Eden is themed on alienation and could well be read in the light of Marx’s theory of alienation.