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Jack London's Martin Eden (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08) |
 | | Martin, unable to afford a formal education, determines to educate himself, and in doing so discovers stories worth telling, stories about the life he and others have lived, stories that draw on his experiences in a class disfavored by Ruth, her brothers, parents, and their social circle. |
 | | Martin, now publicly acclaimed, finally tells himself, they accept me now "for work already done." He is accepted by Ruth and her family, for the exact work, the exact same skills and stories, for which he had been rejected when he was poverty-stricken and unpublished. |
 | | Ruth was able to love Martin, ultimately, only when the world confirmed what her education and class consciousness had not prepared her to accept, that the good, and the good life, is not a matter of who gets published, social acclaim, or mass acceptance (or even majority rule). |
| www.wvu.edu /~lawfac/jelkins/pmpl99/imagine/story_martineden.html (1001 words) |
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