Rethinking the Socialist Voice: Jack London and “The Dignity of Dollars”

Abstract

The writings of Jack London offer a nuanced reading and opportunities for dynamic interpretation. He is one of the most prolific and debated writers of the twentieth century American literature. The “rags to riches” writer, whose early life was one of struggle and loss; he was very much influenced by the disparity in the social structure. Though he himself declared in an interview that he writes for money and caters to the demand of the market, in another place he was very displeased at the caging and categorizing that was often done by critics. He emphasized that an approach to his writings should be attempted towards bringing out the “motif under the motif” and not just labelling him. One such categorizing is his adherence to socialism. The purpose of this paper is to go beyond the theoretical premise of socialism and tend to unearth the contestations to the socialist ideals through his non fictional writing “The Dignity of Dollars”. An effort has been made to use the premise of Michel Foucault to understand the power relations in society and how Jack London even years before conformed to it.