The main characters are the love of life of Jack London. Self-control and the will to live of Jack London's characters based on the story “Love of Life”

The post was inspired by reading a short but very famous story by Jack London “Love to Life”. This story is one of the few foreign literature V school curriculum which I read. Most likely the reason for this is the small volume of the story. I really liked him then.

Summary Jack London's story "Love of Life"
The story "Love of Life" by Jack London is short (about 10 pages), so the summary will be very brief. So, two gold miners go to their hiding place for many days: they have no ammunition, they have not eaten for several days, they are tired and broken, but they need to go. While fording the river, one of them twisted his ankle and therefore hesitated. The other went forward without stopping, even despite the requests of his comrade. So main character there is only one story left.
The main character suffers deprivation, hunger, fatigue, pain, but moves forward, first trying to reach a hiding place where ammunition and some kind of food are stored, and then he just goes on and on, without understanding the direction. He is pushed forward first by hunger, and then by a strong fear of dying from predators, and not from hunger. On the way, he eats berries, grass, and caught fish. He has less and less things with him: the blanket is used to bandage his legs, he loses his gun and knife, and he gradually throws away the gold he mined.

When the strength of the main character of the story “Love of Life” by Jack London was completely running out, he noticed that an old and sick wolf was following him, who did not dare to fight, but was simply waiting for the main character to die. They walk like this for several days until the main character notices a whaling ship. He strains his last strength and goes to the ship for several days, but cannot reach it. Along the way, he stumbles upon the corpse of his comrade, who took care of the bag of gold until the last.

Being completely exhausted, the hero enters into mortal combat with an equally exhausted wolf and defeats him. Finally, he is spotted on the ship and rescued. The story ends happily: the main character comes out of a fairly strong mental insanity and becomes a normal person, but for a long time he is afraid that he will again be left without food. But this too finally passes.

Meaning
The meaning of Jack London's story "Love of Life" is contained in its very title: the main character overcomes pain, hunger, fear, despair in the fight for his life and wins!

Conclusion
Jack London's story "Love of Life" a must read, especially since it will only take 10-20 minutes. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story again. At the end of the post, I will unoriginally state that Jack London is a wonderful writer.

Reviews of Jack London's books:
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7. The story "Atu them, atu!" ;
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I also recommend reading book reviews (and the books themselves, of course):
1. - most popular post
2. - no timemost popular post ;
3.

The story “Love of Life” by Jack London, a summary of which we are considering today, is an incredible story. She shows the reader that a person is able to endure everything in order to live on. And this life given to us must be appreciated.

Betrayal

Two people wander towards a large river. Their shoulders pull heavy bales. Their faces express tired resignation. One of the travelers fords the river. The second one stops at the water's edge. He feels like he sprained his ankle. He needs help. In desperation, he calls his friend. But Bill, that’s the name of our hero’s comrade, doesn’t turn around. As if he couldn’t hear his friend’s desperate cry, he wanders on. Here he is hiding behind a low hill, and the man is left alone.

They were heading to Lake Titchinnichili (translated from the native language, this name meant “Land of Small Sticks”). Before this, the partners washed several impressive bags of golden sand. The stream that flowed from the lake flowed into the Diz River, where the travelers had a cache of supplies. There were not only cartridges, but also small supplies of provisions. The little that was supposed to help survive. Now our hero is carrying a gun without cartridges, a knife and several blankets.

She and Bill have a plan. They will find a hiding place and go south to some trading post on Hudson Bay.

With great difficulty he passed the hill behind which Bill had disappeared. But behind this hill he was not there. The man suppressed his growing panic and clumsily walked on. No, he didn't get lost. He knows the way.

Lonely traveler

The man tries not to think about the fact that Bill abandoned him. He tries to convince himself that Bill is waiting for him in their shared hiding place. If this hope fades, all he can do is lie down and die.

The hero of Jack London's story "Love of Life" continues to move on. He mentally goes over the path he and Bill will take to Hudson Bay. Along the way, the man eats watery berries that come his way. He hasn't eaten for 2 days. And to the full - and even more.

At night, hitting his finger on a stone, he falls to the ground exhausted. And here I decided to take a break. He counted the remaining matches several times (there were exactly 67 of them) and hid them in the pockets of his clothes, which had turned into rags.

He slept like the dead. Woke up at dawn. The man gathered his supplies and stood thoughtfully over a bag of golden sand. He weighed 15 pounds. At first he decided to leave it. But he grabbed it again greedily. He can't throw gold.

Crazy Hunger

He's coming. But he was unbearably tormented by pain in his stomach and in his swollen leg. Because of this pain, he ceases to understand which way to go to the lake.

Suddenly he freezes - a flock of white partridges takes off in front of him. But he doesn’t have a gun, and you can hardly kill a bird with a knife. He throws a stone at the birds, but misses. One of them takes off right in front of his nose. A few feathers remain in his hand. He looks after the birds with hatred.

By evening, the feeling of hunger causes more and more suffering. The hero of Jack London's story "Love of Life", a summary of which we are considering, is ready for anything. He looks for frogs in the swamp, digs the ground in search of worms. But this living creature is not found so far in the north. And he knows it. But he no longer controls himself.

He sees a fish in a large puddle. He is soaked in dirty water up to his waist, but cannot reach it. Finally, having scooped up the entire puddle with a small bucket, he realizes that the fish escaped through a small crevice in the rocks.

Desperate, he sits on the ground and cries. His crying intensifies every minute, turning into a sob.

Sleep brought no relief. My leg burns like it’s on fire, my hunger won’t let me go. He feels cold and sick. The clothes have long since turned into rags, the moccasins are completely ruined. However, only one thought beats in the inflamed brain - eat! He doesn't think about the lake, he forgot about Bill. The man is going crazy from hunger.

When telling a summary of Jack London's "Love of Life", it is difficult to convey the obsession that takes possession of the hero.

He eats berries and roots, and looks for some small grass covered with snow.

The last wish is to live

Soon he finds a nest with newly hatched partridge chicks. He eats them alive without feeling full. He begins to hunt a partridge and damages its wing. In the heat of the chase for the poor bird, he finds human footprints. Probably Bill's tracks. But the partridge quickly eludes him, and he does not have the strength to return and examine whose tracks he still saw. The man remains lying on the ground.

In the morning, he spends half of the blanket on wrappings for his wounded legs, and simply throws the other one away because he does not have the strength to drag it along with him. He also pours golden sand onto the ground. It no longer has any value to him.

The man no longer feels hungry. He eats roots and small fish only because he understands that he must eat. His inflamed brain draws bizarre images before him.

Life or death?

Suddenly he sees a horse in front of him. But he realizes that this is a mirage and rubs his eyes from the thick fog that covers them. The horse turns out to be a bear. The animal looks at him unfriendly. The man remembers that he has a knife, he is ready to rush at the beast... But suddenly he is overcome by fear. He is so weak, what if a bear attacks him? Now he begins to be afraid of being eaten.

In the evening he finds the bones of a fawn gnawed by wolves. He tells himself that dying is not scary, just falling asleep is enough. But the thirst for life makes him greedily pounce on the bones. He breaks his teeth on them and begins to crush them with a stone. He hits his fingers, but feels no pain.

Path to the ship

Days of wandering turn into delirium, shrouded in rain and snow. One morning he comes to his senses near some river unfamiliar to him. It meanders slowly, flowing into the brilliant white sea on the horizon. At first, the hero of the book “Love of Life” by Jack London seems to be delusional again. But the vision does not disappear - there is a ship in the distance.

Suddenly he hears some wheezing behind him. This is a sick wolf. He constantly sneezes and coughs, but follows on the heels of a potential victim.

His consciousness clears up, he realizes that he has reached the Coppermine River, which flows into the Arctic Ocean. The hero of the story “Love of Life” by Jack London, a summary of which we are considering, no longer feels pain, only weakness. A huge weakness that prevents him from rising. But he must get to the ship. The sick wolf follows him just as slowly.

The next day, the man and the wolf find human bones. These are probably Bill's bones. The man sees wolf paw marks all around. And a bag of gold. But he doesn't take it for himself. For several days he wanders towards the ship, then drops to all fours and crawls. A trail of blood trails behind him. But he doesn't want to die, doesn't want to be eaten by a wolf. His brain is again clouded by hallucinations. But during one of the clearings, he gathers his strength and strangles the wolf with the weight of his body. He eventually drinks his blood and falls asleep.

The crew of the whaling ship Bedford soon find something crawling across the land. They save him. But for a long time, like a beggar, he begs for crackers from the sailors, as if he is not fed during common meals. However, this stops before arriving at the port of San Francisco. He has fully recovered.

Conclusion

He fights for life against death - and wins this fight. His actions are amazing, but he is guided by instinct. The instinct of a hungry animal that does not want to die. Jack London's "Love of Life" pierces the reader's heart. Pity. Contempt. With admiration.

History of the story

The story “Love of Life” was written by American writer Jack London in 1905, published in a collection of stories about the adventures of gold miners in 1907. It seems possible that the story has a share of autobiography, at least it has a real basis, since the writer acquired considerable life and writing experience, sailing as a sailor on schooners and taking part in the conquest of the North during the days of the “gold rush”. Life provided him with a lot of impressions, which he expressed in his works.

Adding to the authentic reality is the geographic detail with which the author depicts the path of his hero - from Great Bear Lake to the mouth of the Coppermine River, which flows into the Arctic Ocean.

Plot, characters, story idea

The end of the 19th century was marked by a whole chain of “gold rushes” - people in search of gold massively explored California, the Klondike, and Alaska. A typical picture is presented in the story “Love of Life”. Two friends traveling in search of gold (and having mined a decent amount) did not calculate the strength for the return trip. There are no provisions, no cartridges, no basic mental and physical resources - all actions are performed automatically, as if in a fog. The hero, crossing a stream, trips and injures his leg. A comrade named Bill leaves him without the slightest hesitation and leaves without even looking back.

The main character remains to fight. He cannot get animal food; the fish from the small lake escape, despite the fact that he manually scoops up all the water from the reservoir. The gold had to be abandoned due to its weight. Bill's fate turned out to be sad - the nameless hero came across a pile of pink bones, rags of clothes and a bag of gold.

The story culminates in an encounter with a wolf, too sick and weak to attack a man, but clearly expecting to feast on the man's corpse when he dies from exhaustion and exhaustion. The hero and the wolf guard each other, because he is in equal conditions and in each of them the instinct of survival speaks - the blind and strongest love for life in the world.

The main character pretends to be dead, waiting for the wolf to attack, and when he attacks, the man doesn’t even strangle him - he crushes him with his weight and gnaws the wolf’s neck.

Near the sea, the crew of a whaling ship notices an absurd, scurrying creature on the shore, crawling towards the water's edge. The hero is accepted onto the ship and soon they notice his strangeness - he does not eat the bread served for dinner, but hides it under the mattress. Such insanity developed due to the long, insatiable hunger that he had to experience. However, this soon passed.

The story is built on the opposition, first of Bill and the nameless hero, then of the nameless hero and the wolf. Moreover, Bill loses in this comparison, since he is compared taking into account moral criteria and is defeated, while the wolf remains on an equal footing with the hero, since nature knows no pity, just like a person brought to the last line.

The main idea of the story is the idea that man’s struggle with nature for the right to exist is merciless, despite the fact that man is also armed with reason. In critical situations we are guided by instinct or love of life, and practice shows that the fittest survive. Nature does not know pity or condescension towards the weak, equalizing the rights of predators and herbivores. From the point of view of natural survival, Bill considered himself right in getting rid of the ballast in the form of a wounded friend. But it’s more important to remain human to the end.

Having stumbled upon the remains of his dead comrade in the tundra, he does not gloat and takes his gold for himself. He does not rush to the remains out of hunger (although the day before we see him eating live chicks), and this becomes the last, extreme manifestation of human dignity.

Self-control and will to live. Story American writer Jack London's “Love of Life” is part of the series of so-called “northern stories”. It was they who brought the author wide fame. The heroes of the stories amazed the readers. As a rule, these are ordinary and simple people. Their miserable life pushed them onto the path of gold mining. Finding themselves in difficult living conditions in the North, they face many difficulties. Difficult situations test their humanity. Here you can always see what kind of person you really are.

The heroes of the story “Love of Life” also go through many tests. The search for gold forced them to wander for a long time through a foreign and uninhabited land. The heroes were lucky and managed to find the yellow metal. But for the author this becomes unimportant. The main theme of the story is the depiction of the return journey of people exhausted from hunger to the place of their first stop.

One of the heroes - Bill - acted inhumanely. His friend sprained his leg, and Bill left him in the middle of the river. Bill acted selfishly. He thought only about his own well-being. His comrade was left completely alone in the large “circle of the universe,” where there was “nothing but a boundless and terrible desert.” And although Bill’s friend was scared, he was able to find the strength to get out of this desert. The hero did not eat anything for a long time, was very sick, lost his way, but still he walked and walked on. What made him do this? Of course, not the thought of finding gold and money. A great love for life and the desire to survive gave him strength. “It was the life itself that did not want to die and drove him forward.”

The hero was able to realize that gold and life are opposite things. Bill chose gold and therefore could not survive, although he almost reached his goal. The heavy load took all his strength, and he became an easy prey for the wolves. His comrade chose life, and although in parts, he still got rid of the gold. Very often he was overtaken by moments of bitter despair, but they could not defeat the main thing in him - human will. Several times the hero came face to face with wild animals. When meeting a bear, he was able not only to look the beast straight in the eye, but also to growl, defending his right to life. Until the end of the difficult journey, “the most brutal struggle that can ever happen in life” lasted. A sick man, walking on all fours, was waylaid by a sick wolf. But even dying, the main character “did not submit to death.” The very thought of being eaten by a weakened wolf was disgusting to him. He found the strength to cope with this danger. Enormous willpower and desire to survive were rewarded. The hero was rescued by people from the scientific expedition of the whaling ship Bedford. They only noticed him because the man was squirming and crawling against the background of a motionless landscape.

The struggle for life until the last second is the main idea of the story. The author believes in the strength and capabilities of man. Using the example of the heroes of the story “Love of Life”, he shows that a kind, brave, strong and decent person will always find a way out of the most difficult situation.

Year: 1905 Genre: story

Main characters: Wanderer

In the story, two weary men walk through the wilderness carrying gold they have mined. One twists his ankle and the other leaves him. The whole plot is built on how this other one is trying to survive. He endures hunger, cold and pain. At some point he decides to leave the gold to lighten the load. At the end of his journey he is pursued by a sick wolf. He also finds his friend's bones and gold. He became dinner for the wolves. At the end he is picked up by people and taken to San Francisco.

The story teaches love life and put it above money, and also not give up under any circumstances.

Read briefly Jack London Love of Life

Two exhausted men go down to the river. They carry guns and heavy bales with them. One of them slipped on a boulder and twisted his ankle. He tried to move on, but staggered. The second companion, Bill, walked ahead without looking back, and did not react even when his name was called. Soon he got out to the opposite bank and disappeared over the horizon.

The remaining man looked at his watch. He didn't know exactly what month it was because lately lost count. The man was trying to navigate the area. He only knew that the tributary of the Coppermike River, where he now was, ran towards the ocean. The traveler tried again to call his friend, but in vain. He straightened the bale and walked through the pain to the shore. A man climbs a hill and sees that below, in the valley, there is not a single living soul. Fear crept up on him, but he decided not to give up and followed in the footsteps of his companion. They were supposed to lead him to a cache where he could stock up on food and ammunition. Besides, he is sure that Bill is waiting for him there, and then they will go together to Hudson Bay. These thoughts helped him move forward. The main thing that gave him strength was the confidence that his friend would be waiting for him. He had not eaten for two days before and now dreamed of getting to the secret reserves, but for now he ate swamp berries. Having bruised his big toe, the man lit a fire, dried his clothes, bandaged his leg and fell asleep.

The next day the traveler woke up feeling hungry. A deer ran not far from him, but he could not shoot it, because there were no cartridges in the weapon. The man tied up the bale and for the first time thought about whether he should leave the bag in which the gold was kept here. Its weight was equal to the weight of the rest of the load. Still, he decided to leave the money and moved on. Every step felt pain in my leg and stomach. During the day he walked through an area where there were a lot of living creatures, but he could not catch anything. In the evening he noticed a fish in a puddle, but he couldn’t even catch it. Then he began to cry.

Waking up the next morning, the man saw that snow had fallen during the night. The moss became damp, the fire went out. He moved on, but all the time he thought only about food. At night he slept without a fire, cold drops of rain fell on him. In the morning, the traveler rewrapped his bloody feet, but did not dare give up the gold. The entire next day he was in a state of semi-fainting. During the day and evening he managed to catch several minnows and eat them alive. He walked more and more slowly. Environment began to gradually change its appearance. More and more signs of predators being here appeared.

After a day of travel, the man saw a rock ledge and decided to hide some of the gold there so that he could return and pick it up later. Walking further, he constantly stumbled, and in the end he fell into a partridge's nest. Here he found small chicks and ate them alive. For the rest of the day he chased the partridge. A day later, he decided to throw the money away without even hiding it. He simply poured the gold onto the ground and moved on. On the way, the traveler met a brown bear and tried to kill it with a hunting knife, but realized that he was too weak for this. The bear decided to stay away from the strange creature and disappeared. The man continues on his way. Now he begins to have obsessive thoughts about death in the teeth of predators.

In the evening, he comes across the recently gnawed bones of a fawn that had become a victim of wolves. The man grinds the bones into porridge and eats, taking what is left with him. He moves on, but no longer distinguishes between days. He alternates between losing consciousness and coming to. One day he regained consciousness while lying on a protruding stone and looked down. It was flowing there wide river which flowed into the sea. There he saw a standing ship. However, not far from him he notices a wolf. The animal is clearly sick and is waiting for the victim to die itself. From last bit of strength the man moves towards the ship. The wolf trails behind him. On the way, he sees traces of a man who was crawling on all fours. Following the trail, he finds gnawed bones and the same bag of gold as he had. He now knows Bill's fate. Several days pass and the man himself falls on all fours. He rubs his knees until they bleed, and the wolf crawls after him and licks the bloody trail.

There is only a short distance left to get to the ship, but the man begins to fall into oblivion. He tries to conserve his strength to fight the wolf and even pretends to be dead. One day he manages to kill a wolf and drinks its warm blood. He writhes like a worm on the ground when the scientists from the whaling ship find him. The ship takes him to San Francisco and he eats all the way, begs the sailors for crackers and hides them in his mattress.