Northern stories

london poetics north story
Chapter 2 Other elements of poetics in D. London's "Northern Tales" (landscape, interior, portraits, the role of objects in stories)
2.1. Meet near London and mixed types of stories

In northern stories, Jack London appears as a wonderful master of prose, as an outstanding storyteller.

Although all the stories are directly related to the North, there is no uniformity in them, there is no template and template that could destroy their originality, make them look like one another. The style of presentation is constantly changing.
In London, we most often meet with two types of stories. In one case, the author speaks in his own name, in the other, the narrator appears. There are different types of storytellers. These can be Indians (for example, Imber in The League of Old Men, Sitka Charlie in The Courage of a Woman), and gold diggers (for example, the narrator in Bullseye), and vagabonds (Steven in Hyperborean Drink).
Each of them has its own character, its own style of narration. Some speak in an upbeat, pathetic tone (like Imber in The League of Old Men), others are ironic (Steve in Bullseye). Some of the narrators are participants in the events described, in which they often occupy a central place. The value of others is limited to the role of witnesses, eyewitnesses of the incidents they tell about. Still others act simply as narrators, telling about some event or legend from the distant past.
The story is told in different ways by the author himself. In some stories, his authorial speech prevails, in others - dialogue, in some he admires the exploits of his heroes, in others he condemns the behavior of negative characters.
There are also mixed types of stories in London. In such cases, the author's story is combined with the narrator's narration. An example is the "Northern Odyssey".
There is a lot of movement, struggle, clashes in the northern stories. 'London is a great master of tense dynamic intrigue. He moves the story forward quickly.
The reader is immediately drawn into the circle of events. Already the beginning of the story creates a certain mood, prepares for the onset of some changes.
Here, for example, "White Silence". “Carmen won’t even last two days ,” this introduction from the first minutes creates an atmosphere of anxious expectation, which intensifies as the action develops. A quarrel between friends ensues, and disaster looms: Mason is pinned down by a falling pine tree . However, the action has not yet reached its climax. The drama continues to escalate. The high point is the conversation between the dying Mason and Malemute Kid , when Mason demands his friend to shoot him. The decision has been made, but it is not final. There was little hope of salvation. The denouement comes only after all the deadlines have expired. The drama lasts until the end of the story, right up to the moment when Kid fulfills Mason 's request .
This is how most of Jack London's stories are built. From the first to the last page, they keep the reader in suspense, leading him from one climax to another, until the denouement arrives.
London is rather stingy in describing the appearance of his characters. For him, their inner world is much more important.
The human psyche, its shades always interest the writer. In northern stories, he creates pictures of human experiences that are amazing in their strength and expressiveness: he depicts unbearable pangs of hunger, passionate love for life, tragic death from cold, describes the hero’s courage or his horror before impending death. A psychological analysis remarkable in depth and fidelity is given in the story Finis . The author manages to almost tangibly and visibly convey the experiences of Morganson : suffering from hunger, cold and scurvy, agonizing expectation and, finally, a tragic death.
With the same drama, the experiences of a freezing person are depicted in the story "Bonfire". At first, the hero is afraid of the deadly cold. Then he has hope for salvation. But the fire goes out, there is not enough strength to make it, and hope is replaced by despair. It is replaced by indifference, apathy. There is drowsiness. And death no longer seems scary. The person freezes.
With no less skill London reveals the psychology of courage and heroism. The direct antithesis of "Bonfire" is "Love of Life". Here the author also gives a thorough analysis of human experiences, and the most important of them is the will to live, which conquers hunger, cold, and endless suffering.
Heroes of London are laconic. Outwardly calm, imperturbable, they live an intense spiritual life. But their feelings are not expressed in words and outpourings. They prefer to act rather than speak, considering boastful speeches as the first sign of weakness. Therefore, most often their emotional experiences are revealed through actions and deeds. So, for example, in the story "Faith in Man" Pentfield and Hutchinson throw dice, which must decide which of them to go home. Hutchinson hesitates, not daring to start: “Come on! Let's! Don't pull! cried Pentfield sharply . Trying to keep his cool, he clutched the edge of the table so tightly that his nails were bent” [I, 482]. And here is the reaction of John Messner to a meeting with his ex-wife: “He went down from the shore, stopped the sled at the ice hole and pulled out a bag of gold from under the ropes that were tightening the luggage. The water was already covered in a thin crust of ice. He broke the ice with his fist and, untangling the straps of the sack with his teeth, poured its contents into the water. The river was shallow at this point, and two feet below the surface Messner could see the bottom, dully yellow in the fading light of day. He spat into the hole" [II, 191]. In both cases, the psyche of the characters becomes clear to the reader not so much because of what they say, but because of their behavior, showing what they do and how they do it.
An exceptionally large place in the northern stories belongs to the landscape. The icy deserts of the North, the Great Cold, the White Silence, the endless tundra, the angry surf of the Polar Sea - all these landscapes are long remembered, recreating a picture of the mighty, majestic northern nature. London has an amazing talent for painting a magnificent canvas with a few colorful strokes: “The river was silent under its white veil. Everything is frozen in the forest. And the frost was the same as now. At night the stars seemed close and big, they jumped and danced; during the day, the sun teased us until it seemed to us that we were seeing many suns; the air sparkled and sparkled, and the snow was like diamond dust. There was no fire around, no sound - only cold and White silence" [I, 199].
The landscape does not play a self-contained role. It is either the background against which the action unfolds, or, most often, a living principle, directly related to human destinies. Its role in revealing the inner world of a person is especially great. It helps to reveal human strength and weakness, cowardice and heroism, perseverance and lack of will, perseverance and passivity.
In the description of nature, as in the description of people, London is dominated by heroic features. Northern nature in his works is majestic, grandiose, drawn in elevated, pathetic colors. Very often, she has not only strength and power, but also some kind of mystery, mystery. Something terrible and unknown is hidden in it. “Over the mountains that rose in the distance, on the opposite shore, the sky was covered with the smoke of forest fires invisible from here, and the rays of the sun barely made their way through this veil, faintly illuminating the earth and casting false shadows. Wherever you look - up to the very horizon, islands overgrown with spruce, dark waters, rocky ridges cut by glaciers - a wild, primeval desert. Nothing here spoke of the presence of a person, not a single sound broke the silence. The whole region seemed to be fettered by the unreality of the unknown, shrouded in the thoughtful mystery of boundless expanses” [I, 206].
In relation to man, nature acts as a hostile, destructive principle. It can be the snow that puts out the fire at the freezing traveler (“Bonfire”), and the icy chaos that destroys everything in its path (“At the End of the Rainbow”), and the pine tree that kills Mason (“White Silence”). But most often it is frost, penetrating directly into the lungs. “The man begins to cough with a sharp, dry cough, expectorating dead tissue, and the next spring dies of pneumonia, perplexed. where did it come from” (II, 180).
However, the heroes of the northern stories almost do not know hopeless situations. There are no trials that their will would bow to. Entering into a struggle with nature, they find a way to salvation and victory.
In the northern stories there are many colorful descriptions of Indian and Eskimo customs and religious rites. The author uses images of Indian folklore.
All this diversifies the story, gives it more expressiveness.
Not all works of London have the same artistic merit. Compared to others, the stories included in the Smoke Bellew collection are weaker . In them you can find an artificial plot, far-fetched situations, repetition of motives. So, for example, in the story "Egg Trouble" we meet with the "egg theme", which was developed in a much more interesting and original way in "A Thousand Dozen".
The story "The Leap" describes a dog race that is very reminiscent of the same race in "The Daughter of the Northern Lights".
In the story "The Secret of the Woman's Soul" the image of the girl Labiskwee is remembered . But her selfless love for Smoke Bellew is very similar to Passuk 's love for Sitka Charlie.