Love of Life Page #7

"Love of Life" is a short story by Jack London that encapsulates the themes of survival, resilience, and the will to live. Set in the harsh wilderness of the Yukon, it follows the harrowing journey of a prospector who faces extreme challenges after being separated from his companion. As he battles the relentless environment and his own deteriorating condition, the story highlights the indomitable spirit of humanity in the face of despair. London's vivid, evocative prose paints a gripping portrait of both the beauty and brutality of nature, making it a poignant exploration of the instinctual drive for survival.

								


       *       *       *       *       *

Three weeks afterward the man lay in a bunk on the whale-ship
Bedford, and with tears streaming down his wasted cheeks told who
he was and what he had undergone. He also babbled incoherently of his
mother, of sunny Southern California, and a home among the orange
groves and flowers.

The days were not many after that when he sat at table with the
scientific men and ship's officers. He gloated over the spectacle of
so much food, watching it anxiously as it went into the mouths of
others. With the disappearance of each mouthful an expression of deep
regret came into his eyes. He was quite sane, yet he hated those men
at mealtime. He was haunted by a fear that the food would not last. He
inquired of the cook, the cabin-boy, the captain, concerning the food
stores. They reassured him countless times; but he could not believe
them, and pried cunningly about the lazarette to see with his own eyes.

It was noticed that the man was getting fat. He grew stouter with each
day. The scientific men shook their heads and theorized. They limited
the man at his meals, but still his girth increased and he swelled
prodigiously under his shirt.

The sailors grinned. They knew. And when the scientific men set a watch
on the man, they knew too. They saw him slouch for'ard after breakfast,
and, like a mendicant, with outstretched palm, accost a sailor. The
sailor grinned and passed him a fragment of sea biscuit. He clutched it
avariciously, looked at it as a miser looks at gold, and thrust it into
his shirt bosom. Similar were the donations from other grinning sailors.

The scientific men were discreet. They let him alone. But they privily
examined his bunk. It was lined with hardtack; the mattress was
stuffed with hardtack; every nook and cranny was filled with hardtack.
Yet he was sane. He was taking precautions against another possible
famine--that was all. He would recover from it, the scientific men
said; and he did, ere the Bedford's anchor rumbled down in San
Francisco Bay.
								Rate this book:0.0 / 0 votes