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 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 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 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. 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.
Twenty-year-old sailor Martin Eden saved his peer Morse from a group of scoundrels on a ferry. Arthur comes from an educated, wealthy family. Wanting to thank the brave young man and amuse his family with such a strange acquaintance, he invites Martin to his home. There, the inexperienced sailor found himself completely fascinated by the atmosphere of the entire house. And he immediately became interested in the girl Ruth, who was Morse’s sister. He wants to match this pure and smart girl in everything. He, wanting to become at least a little more educated, visits the library.
In Auckland, he submits an essay about the adventures of treasure hunters. I even sent the manuscript to the San Francisco Observer. He continued the writer’s work, but Ruth did not support him. She invites the young man to enter high school, but almost all the exams turned out to be beyond his strength. And all the works were returned unpublished. Then the aspiring writer decides to write instead of by hand.
Martin is trying to find work on land. But combined with creativity, it turns out to be so exhausting that he even gets drunk. The young man in love devoted the remaining time before the voyage to his girlfriend. Ruth and Martin see each other often and go for walks. More and more attracted to each other, they declare their love. Ruth informed her parents of the upcoming engagement. Needless to say, their daughter’s relationship with a person outside their social circle did not cause them any delight.
Eden began to study literature closely, wanting to make writing profitable. But so far nothing has worked out for him. He has to starve, he sells his things. But then checks from publishing houses begin to arrive. Publishers try to deceive the novice figure. Ruth still doesn't believe in Martin's talent. While staying with the Morses, the young man met Brissenden Ress, who introduced him to the right circle of people. New friends attended a socialist rally. At the suggestion of journalists, he suddenly found himself a fighter against the existing system. Ruth breaks off the engagement.
And Martin Eden is at the peak of his popularity. Sometimes it comes out. But he is very disappointed in life and in people. Therefore, having distributed his fees to friends, he plans a trip to the Marquesas Islands. He is indifferent to everything: the love of the naive girl Lizzie, the sudden arrival of Ruth, who finally saw that very talent in him. Moreover, Ruth is already indifferent to the opinions of others regarding the rumors about Martin. It's just too late, unfortunately.
Eden sails to the islands, but still doesn’t see the point in anything. His sensitive soul is in complete confusion. And he sees no way of salvation. That's why he throws himself into the ocean. He tries to dive as deep as possible so that there is no possibility of return. He succeeds. I have no strength to go upstairs. And through the bright light he falls into the abyss. Consciousness left him. Forever. The soul found peace.
Jack London's novel Martin Eden tells the reader about the fate of the poor sailor Martin Eden. Characters of the novel: main character – Martin Eden; young man Arthur Moroz, his sister Ruth.
... One day on the ferry, Martin Eden, a twenty-year-old sailor, protects a young man, Arthur Moroz, from a gang of hooligans. Arthur is about the same age as Martin, but he belongs to a circle of wealthier and more educated people. As a sign of gratitude, and at the same time for fun, Arthur invites Martin to visit him for lunch. The atmosphere of the house - many paintings, books, a piano - delights and fascinates Martin. And Ruth, Arthur’s sister, makes an amazing impression on him. She seems to him the embodiment of purity, spirituality and divinity. Martin decides to become worthy of this girl. To do this, he goes to the library - hoping, thus, to join the wisdom available to Ruth, Arthur and the like.
Martin enthusiastically immerses himself in the study of literature, language, and the rules of versification. He often communicates with Ruth, she helps him with knowledge. Ruth herself is a conservative girl, she tries to reshape Martin in the image of the 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 on a ship as a simple sailor. During the long months of sailing, Martin educates himself, enriches his vocabulary, and reads many different books. He feels great strength within himself and one day realizes that he wants to become a writer.
Martin returns to Oakland, writes a feature story about treasure hunters, and submits the manuscript to the San Francisco Observer. After this, he sits down to the story of the whalers. Soon he meets Ruth, shares his plans with her, but the girl does not share his ardent hopes. However, she is pleased with the changes happening to him: Martin began to speak much more correctly and dress better. Ruth is in love with Martin, but her own concepts about life do not allow her to realize this. Ruth thinks Martin needs to study. Martin takes his high school exams but fails miserably in all subjects. Besides grammar. This failure does not disappoint him much, but Ruth is saddened. None of Martin's works sent to magazines and newspapers have been published; they are all returned by mail without any explanation. Martin decides that the problem is that they are handwritten. He rents a typewriter and learns to type. Soon he discovers the books of Herbert Spencer, this gives him the opportunity to see the world in a new way. However, Ruth does not share his passion for Spencer. Then Martin reads his stories to her, but even here Ruth finds many shortcomings and completely does not notice the author’s talent.
Soon Martin runs out of money earned from his voyage. Martin gets a job in the laundry ironing clothes. This work exhausts him insanely, he stops reading books, and one day off he gets drunk, like in the old days. Martin realizes that nothing will change in his life this way and leaves the laundry.
There is little time left before the next voyage, and Martin devotes this time to love. He often sees Ruth, they walk together and read books. One day Ruth finds herself in Martin's arms. They get engaged, which does not delight her parents at all.
Martin decides to write to earn money. He rents a tiny room from the Portuguese Maria Silva. Now he sleeps only five hours a night; constantly creates more and more new works. However, the streak of bad luck continues. Martin has no money left. He pawns his coat, then his watch, then his bicycle. He eats only potatoes, occasionally having lunch with his sister. Suddenly - almost unexpectedly - one after another, magazines began sending Martin checks for his stories. And although they pay less than he expected, Martin is very happy.
Later the luck stops. The editors are doing their best to cheat Martin, which makes him incredibly angry. Ruth, who still doesn't believe Martin is capable of becoming a writer, persuades him to take a job with her father. Martin refuses. He gets along with the socialists and one day his photograph appears on the pages of newspapers. After this, Ruth sends Martin a letter in which she informs him of the break in the engagement between them.
But one day Martin becomes famous. They publish him, people try to get to know him, including those who previously despised him. Even Ruth is ready to return to him. But all this is indifferent to Martin and he sails to the islands. As the ship heads out to sea, Martin slips out into the sea through the porthole.
This concludes Jack London's novel Martin Eden.
Martin Eden
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 ideas about life do not allow her 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 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 he drinks, 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" 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. 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.
He loved to travel and created manuscripts inspired by his own adventures. Such works include the novel “Martin Eden,” which tells about a man from the lower classes who fell in love with a girl brought up in a bourgeois wealthy family.
History of creation
The theme of love between representatives of different classes is far from new in world literature. One has only to remember the immortal drama “and”. But Jack London managed to make Martin Eden a unique and memorable character.
The writer began to get involved in writing at a very early age. The guy, who grew up under the tutelage of the extravagant Mrs. Flora Wellman, who was interested in spiritualism and astrology, could not choose the mundane path of a builder or factory worker. However, he managed to be a blue collar worker in his life.
In his youth, London worked at a cannery for one dollar, because his mother always went on adventures and did not think about the family budget. Fortunately, Jack realized early on that he did not want to turn into, in his words, a “work animal,” and devoted himself to creativity, trying to devote time to writing stories:
“I will write a thousand words a day,” was the task a young man from San Francisco gave himself.
There was a lot going on in London’s life: either he considered himself a failure, or he received a fee of $50 thousand for one book. For those who have read the writer’s biography, one thing is clear: Jack was madly fond of traveling and even tried to sail around the world on a ship that he built according to his own drawings. That’s why book lovers bought the American’s works: to understand what it was like to be on an uncharted piece of land.
Perhaps Jack London’s adventures would have continued into old age if this talented man had not died voluntarily: on a cold November night in 1916, Jack took a lethal dose of the painkiller morphine.
The seminal novel “Martin Eden” (in Soviet books the spelling “Eden” is more common), created by the writer after a two-year sea voyage, was published in 1909 as a separate book by Macmillan Publishers.
London's book found favor with the reading public because he created a character endowed with the traits of an ordinary mortal man. The work, imbued from cover to cover with philosophical motives, tells about the life path of Martin Eden: about his ups and downs, joys and disappointments.
Biography and plot
The novel “Martin Eden” is autobiographical; Jack London endowed the protagonist with his own life experiences. As you know, they both come from the lower classes who tried to achieve prosperity solely through their own efforts. But the political views of the fictional character and the writer are fundamentally different: if only “red” ideas were attributed to Martin, then London was a true supporter of socialism.
Martin Eden is a young sailor, approximately 21 years old, who cannot boast of wealthy parents. The main character learned early what it was like to earn his living through his own labor.
The novel begins with Martin protecting a certain Arthur Morse, who was used to living in grand style, from a gang of hooligans on a ferry. As a sign of gratitude and at the same time wanting to amuse the family with an eccentric acquaintance, Arthur invited Martin to his mansion. The guy in a rough dress that smelled of the salty sea, had a clumsy gait and was always afraid of sweeping away some figurine or book with his rough hands or touching the stool that stood near the piano.
At one point, Martin's worldview was turned upside down. The fact is that the young man saw Arthur’s sister, Ruth, who appeared in his imagination as the embodiment of beauty and spirituality. Since then, Eden has tried in every way to woo this girl, and at the same time find his place in the Sun.
To get one step closer to Arthur and Ruth, who are studying at the university, Eden goes to the library to learn the basics of science. The multifaceted literary world so attracted a man who had recently watched the sea waves from a ship that ultimately Martin could not be torn away from the book. Ruth, a girl of rather conservative and narrow views, helped him in his self-education. The beauty tried in every possible way to “reshape” Martin to fit her social circle, but she failed.
After Martin's budget was depleted, the man set sail again to earn money for a living. Over the long eight months of wandering, the young man enriched his vocabulary and expanded his knowledge.
Martin returned from his voyage not as a rough sailor, but as a man with a cherished dream. His goal is to become a writer. Martin learned that authors were paid decent fees, and he also wanted Ruth to be able to admire the beauty of this world with him.
Returning to Auckland, the protagonist sits down to write essays, from his pen stories about unprecedented treasures and adventurers come to light. Ruth is pleased with the changes taking place with Eden (the girl is in love with Martin, but due to her character and upbringing she does not immediately realize this), but she does not share his attempts to gain literary recognition.
On the advice of Ruth, who sees Martin as a "savage", Eden takes his high school exams, but fails all subjects except grammar. This upsets the girl, which cannot be said about Martin. The young man is ready to go towards his goal, despite the obstacles.
Unfortunately, Martin's first manuscripts were rejected by publishers. The guy suggests that things will improve if he sends materials that are not handwritten. Then the young man buys a typewriter, learns to type, and works on self-improvement every free minute. Eden does not lose hope and sends his letters to editors, and his good health allows him to sleep five hours a day.
It would seem that luck is on Martin's side: he becomes an experienced writer, and Ruth, despite the social gap between them, realizes that she is in love. Although everything is going wrong with his career, because publishers refuse to print Eden’s creations, be they humorous stories or serious works. But at one point he received a whole stack of checks from the magazine, however, the publishers were constantly trying to cheat the writer. In any case, there was always not enough money, he pawned valuables, lived in a tiny apartment and ate only potatoes.
Soon a dark streak comes in Martin's life: the writer participates in a political rally, criticizing the views of anarchists and socialists. But the novice gossip hunter turned everything upside down in his article, dubbing Martin a socialist. After seeing the publication, Ruth sends a letter where she writes about the breakup.
After the showdown with Martin, the journalist took everything to heart and, in retaliation, began spreading provocative rumors about him. This does not interfere with Eden's career, since, by coincidence, magazines begin to publish all of his works. But Martin lives by inertia and stops enjoying money and life.
Now Martin is famous, but writing becomes deeply indifferent to him. Neither his new lover nor the unexpected return of Ruth touches his heart. At the end of the novel, Eden, who has found emptiness in his soul, commits suicide: the writer jumps from his cabin into the water and sinks to the bottom of the ocean.
When London described the character, it was based on philosophy and.
In 1918, a film based on the novel “Martin Eden” - “Not Born for Money” - was released. It is noteworthy that the script was written, the futurist poet also played the main role.
In 1976, Soviet viewers enjoyed Sergei Evlakhishvili's television play Martin Eden. The main roles went to other actors.
Quotes
“He was looking for love all his life. His nature craved love. This was an organic need of his being. But he lived without love, and his soul became more and more bitter in loneliness.”
“What he offered her was insignificant compared to what she was willing to give him. He offered her what he had in excess, which he could do without, and she gave him all of herself, without fear of shame, sin, or eternal torment.”
“Martin was more than once glad that his friend did not live to see all this. He hated the crowd so much, and now this crowd was thrown into desecration of what was most sacred and intimate to him.”
“Thoughts are boiling inside me, waiting to be embodied in poetry, in prose, in articles.”
“The hours that he spent next to Ruth aroused either hope or doubt and equally drove him crazy.”