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Jesus as a Cultural Weapon in the Work of Jack London

Jesus as a Cultural Weapon in the Work of Jack London Jesus as a Cultural Weapon in the Work of Jack London Steven Bembridge, University of East Anglia Jack London was steeped in a variety of religious contexts from an early age: he was the child of a spiritualist mother and an itinerant, astrologer father; he attended Sunday school at an African American Church; and he would listen to sermons at the Salvation Army. Coupled with his often- brutal representation of the natural world and its indiff erence to those un- able to survive in a given environment, there exists a sense of London as a writer unconcerned— or simply antagonistic— towards religion. However, this notion is incorrect for London explicitly engaged with the topic of Je- sus Christ throughout his career. London saw in Christ a fi gure whose in- fl uence upon human history was profound. London himself certainly re- garded Christ as a “personal hero,” but he also spoke of Abraham Lincoln with the same sentiment (C. London 219). Lincoln was often compared to Christ in post- Civil War America (Blum and Harvey 131), and Tolstoy even referred to Lincoln as a “Christ in miniature” (Sandburg 733). Th e ability for humans like Lincoln to be associated http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Studies in American Naturalism University of Nebraska Press

Jesus as a Cultural Weapon in the Work of Jack London

Bembridge, Steven
Studies in American Naturalism , Volume 10 (1) – Jan 31, 2016
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Publisher
University of Nebraska Press
ISSN
1944-6519

Abstract

Jesus as a Cultural Weapon in the Work of Jack London Steven Bembridge, University of East Anglia Jack London was steeped in a variety of religious contexts from an early age: he was the child of a spiritualist mother and an itinerant, astrologer father; he attended Sunday school at an African American Church; and he would listen to sermons at the Salvation Army. Coupled with his often- brutal representation of the natural world and its indiff erence to those un- able to survive in a given environment, there exists a sense of London as a writer unconcerned— or simply antagonistic— towards religion. However, this notion is incorrect for London explicitly engaged with the topic of Je- sus Christ throughout his career. London saw in Christ a fi gure whose in- fl uence upon human history was profound. London himself certainly re- garded Christ as a “personal hero,” but he also spoke of Abraham Lincoln with the same sentiment (C. London 219). Lincoln was often compared to Christ in post- Civil War America (Blum and Harvey 131), and Tolstoy even referred to Lincoln as a “Christ in miniature” (Sandburg 733). Th e ability for humans like Lincoln to be associated

Journal

Studies in American Naturalism – University of Nebraska Press

Published: Jan 31, 2016

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