The Heathen by Jack London

Q : 1. What's your understanding of the story The Heathen? Write this answer in your own words.

 Answer : 

"The Heathen" is a short story by the American writer Jack London. It was first published in Everybody's Magazine in August 1910, and later included in the collection of stories by London, The Strength of the Strong, published by Macmillan in 1914. Captivating tale that delves into themes of culture clash and the resilience of the human spirit. Jack London's storytelling prowess shines through in this piece, offering readers a glimpse into the complexities of colonial encounters and the indomitable nature of the human soul.

In the story, two people, from different cultural and racial backgrounds, are the only survivors of a ship that encounters a hurricane in the Pacific, and they remain together. The narrator, a pearl buyer named Charley, is a cabin passenger on a schooner, the Petite Jeanne, at the end of the pearling season in the Paumotas. The boat, having eighty-five deck passengers, is overloaded. Several passengers die of smallpox; Charley and the other cabin passengers drink whisky, until it runs out, in the belief that it will kill the smallpox germ

 Title of the story "The Heathen" is a dated term used primarily of someone who is not religious, or whose religion is not Judaism, Islam, or especially Christianity. It is also sometimes used disapprovingly of someone who is not cultured.

And the story reveals that Otoo is considered to be the heathen as he does not belong to the lass though he is from the African American class. 

The African people are suppressed by the whites and they are dragged to their own class but they are considered to be slaves. This story also demonstrates the idea of Master-Slave relationship. The whites believe that the blacks are born to be merely slaves and that is why they are forced to be African Christion in which Otoo remains different from them and thus, he becomes the heathen of that community.

  Jack London given his views over how society creates injustice to the people. If Otoo does not belong to his christian community when society does not belong to the religion named ''HUMANITY'' And it does not lot the human beings live their life the way they want to.

Q : 2. The learners are advised to read the original story and talk about the major scenes that take place in the story. 

Answer : 

Background :

The Heathen" is a short story by the American writer Jack London. It follows two people from different cultural and racial backgrounds who are the only ones left after their ship has encountered a storm in the Pacific.In 1907 London began a voyage across the Pacific Ocean in his ketch the Snark, and visited islands in the south Pacific, concluding the voyage in Sydney, Australia. He wrote about the adventure in his book The Cruise of the Snark. "The Heathen" is set among islands that London visited during that period.

Smallpox spreads on the board: 

The narrator, a pearl buyer named Charley, is a cabin passenger on a schooner, the Petite Jeanne, sailing from Rangiroa to Tahiti. The boat, having eighty-five deck passengers, is overloaded. Several passengers die of smallpox; Charley and the other cabin passengers drink whisky, until it runs out, in the belief that it will kill the smallpox germs.

Encounter with a Hurricane: 

The boat is in the direct path of a hurricane and destroyed in the hurricane, and Charley survives by clinging to a hatch cover from the boat, sharing it with a Kanaka named Otoo. Eventually Charley loses consciousness, and comes to on the beach of an atoll; Otoo has saved his life by pulling him from the water. They are the only survivors from the Petite Jeanne.

Reverse the names:

They exchange names. In the South Seas such a ceremony binds two men closer together than blood-brothership. They part inPapeete and Otoo goes home to Bora Bora; but he returns, because his wife has died. He accompanies Charley for the next seventeen years, ensuring that he does not come to harm.

Otoo is killed saving Charley from sharks :

The relationship ends when Otoo is killed saving Charley from sharks on the coast of Savu. "And so passed Otoo, who saved me and made me a man, and who saved me in the end."

The relationship ends when Otoo is killed saving Charley from sharks on the coast of Savu

             Overall, "The Heathen" offers a nuanced exploration of these themes, prompting readers to reconsider their assumptions about religion, culture, and human interaction and are cultural clash, religious conversion, human nature, cultural understanding, and nature's significance. 

Thank you  .