Jack London‘s The Law of Life tells of the life and impending death of Koskoosh, an old Inuit who was once chief of his tribe but is left by them to die in the snow. Some critics suggest that although Koskoosh is the protagonist, the real hero of the story is an old moose that was too weak to keep up with its herd. Can you see why? Major themes: the inevitability of death (the law of life), survival of the individual (man vs. nature), survival of the tribe (expendability of the old and weak), tradition, courage, acceptance.
Koskoosh is so old that he can no longer see. A notable aspect of the story is the way London emphasizes this point by using “sound” words (bark, crack, crackle, croon, crunch, grunt, guttural, howl, shrill, sizzle, snarl, whimper, and whine) rather than visual adjectives to describe what is happening around him.
Original Text / PDF / Audio (2,850 words)