A vision of dreadful degradation: Jack London's depiction of the East End

Essay from the year 2007 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2,0, King`s College London, language: English, abstract: 'What is not good enough for you is not good enough for other men, and there's no more to be said', states the American writer Jack London in his book 'The People Of The Abyss'. His work is a documentary account of the living and working conditions in the East End of London in 1902. In a sweeping style, the author presents the misery of the slums in the then worst areas. Being accused by many of sensationality, the book refers to the author's own experiences as well as other accounts and statistics. 'The People Of The Abyss' certainly is a piece of documentary literature in terms of a sociological study. Nevertheless, the author uses several literary tricks to attract the reader's attention. By many critics, his picture of the East End of London has been called overdrawn. In this essay, this image of the East End in Jack London's account will be sketched out. Beforehand, a short summary of his biography will be given in order to find out what caused him to write such a book. In the end, the former situation will be briefly compared to the East End of today.