American Literature

Jack Londons In a Far Country and Mark Twains Cannibalism in the Cars both portray humanitys quest for power and instinct for survival.  The short stories how humanitys yearning for power and survival are reflected in American history.

In a Far Country tells the story of a group of people, from all walks of life, who journeyed to Klondike in search for gold.  Carter Weatherbee was a clerk who was simply tired of the ceaseless grind and was willing to walk great lengths in order to reap equally great benefits (London 39). Rich man Percy Cuthfert had no reason to travel with the group.  He was simply there because he suffered from an abnormal development of sentimentality (London 39).  Both men were branded as the Incapables of the group because Cuthfert and Weatherbee practically refuse to lift a finger and help the group in tasks such as chopping wood and cooking.  In the story, they constantly get the ire of Jacques Baptiste.  Baptiste is an offspring of a Chippewa Woman and a voyageur of French descent.  He is considered as one of the hardiest men in the group.  Sloper, a South American who looks yellow and weak, is equally strong.  At a measly ninety pounds, he is stronger than both Cuthferts and Weatherbees healthy physiques combined.

The two Incapables were a burden to the rest of the group yet, throughout the journey until they parted ways, the group was able to stand them because help in any form was welcome in the duration of the journey.  After all, traveling to Klondike was not an easy feat even for the strongest man in the group.  Things took a different turn, however, when the groups decided to brave the North, where it was rumored that no life existed over there.  The two Incapables whined so much that the rest of the group just left them in the cabin to fend for themselves.  It was no surprise that Cuthfert and Weatherbee could barely survive and could not stand each other.  They eventually ran out of supplies, went insane, and killed each other.

As to why both men, given their low threshold for discomfort, agreed to travel with the group is not such a surprise. When Jack London wrote this short story, he drew inspiration from his personal experience in the Klondlike Gold Rush in Dawnson City, Yukon, Canada (Walcutt 13).      Londons childhood was not a bed of roses.  At the age of 13, he took on grueling jobs of different kinds (Walcutt 9).  He wanted to attend the University of California but financial constraints prevented him from doing so.  London went to Dawnson with his brother-in-law to join the Klondike Gold Rush with the hopes of finding good fortune.

The Klondike Gold Rush was one of the most publicized gold rush of its time because of the economic depression that hit the United States since 1893 (Nobleman 21).  When two steamships loaded with jubilant Klondike gold miners and their gold pulled into two American Harbors, a headline in the Seattle-Post Intelligence screamed, Gold, gold, gold (Nobleman 21) News had spread that many people had made one hundred dollars in one pan (Nobleman 18).  It was music to the ears for a lot of people.

The route to Klondike was not an easy one.  Resources often became scarce and the painfully cold climate proved to be quite a major hindrance to a lot of gold seekers.  But still, it would not stop people from seeking gold.  At that time, the American dollar was on a gold standard and the scarcity of gold had caused a deflationary vise that in 1893 brought a banking collapse and national unemployment of 18 (Wohlforth 200).  The news regarding the abundance of gold in Klondike turned the economic scene around and thousands of people started planning travels to Klondike to try their luck.  They came from all walks of life, from professionals to blue-collar workers, as exemplified in In a Far Country.

In Cannibalism in the Cars, the narrator, whose identity remains hidden, encounters a mild, benevolent-looking gentleman on his way West (Twain 10).  During the initial moments of their conversation, the gentleman made an impression that he was a man who was perfectly familiar with the ins and outs of political life at the Capital, even to the ways and manners, and custom of procedure of Senators and Representatives in the Chambers of National Legislature (Twain 10).  However, this changed as the gentleman revealed a story of him stranded because of a snowdrift with several other educated and well-mannered gentlemen, which forced them to resort to cannibalism when no form of rescue came.  The story of the gentleman left the narrator in bewilderment.  The narrator was more shocked to discover that the madman he was talking to was a former member of the Congress.  According to the conductor of the train, he was a competent member.  He was consumed by insanity for two to three months after the snowdrift incident. But even after two to three months, his cannibalistic tendencies kept coming back.  The conductor even said, He would have finished the crowd by this time, only he had to get out of here (Twain 15).  Bewildered consumed the narrator but at the same time relief was felt because he or she did not become the victim of the former congressmans madness.

In reading this story, it is important to get a glimpse of the authors life and principles.  Mark Twain, one of the greatest American authors and humorists of his time, was strongly against American imperialism.  He thought of the United States efforts to help other countries as a ploy to conquer them (Hoffman 61-65). The late nineteenth century was the period of the rapid rise of imperialism in the United States.  In the early part of the nineteenth century, the United States was still struggling to heal itself from numerous bloody wars that have been fought during the formation of the country.  By 1867, the United States had the land, population and resources to emerge as an international power (Barney 102). It channeled its energies on expanding its power and redefining their place in the world.

Twains choice of using a congressman as the cannibal could not be a more blatant expression of his disgust for the political scenario in the United States in the late nineteenth century.  In his struggle to survive, the congressmen kept on objecting to his election to be eaten just to survive.  In the process, others were put at stake.

In a Far Country and Cannibalism in the Cars provide the readers with a glimpse of the effects of seeking greater glory and survival at the same time.  At times, ambition is confused with survival, as seen in In a Far Country.  Percy Cuthfert did not need to embark on that journey.  He was simply craving for adventure and it seemed illustrious to join the quest for gold.  He simply wanted to more stories to tell, in the same way that the US Expansion was not a necessity but simply means of boosting the nations ego. Both stories illustrate that the expansion and imperialism compromised the dignity of humanity.