Close Reading Essay
In Jack London’s, “Surfing: The Royal Sport” many literary elements are addressed in detail. The story is told from the first person, and it is from the point of view of the author, Jack London. The story is based on a real experience that he had with the sport of surfing. This was before surfing was known about in the United States, and Jack was one of the first to learn this sport of kings. This story is told from Jack’s point of view because it explains how beautiful the art of wave riding is, and the process one must go through to learn this skill. This point of view gives the reader a true explanation of what wave riding is all about. Being one with nature, and learning to fight with the force of nature are two critical aspects that can only be explained by a person who has experience with these things.
In this story I believe that imagery is one of the most prominent literary elements used. Jack paints a picture in the reader’s mind that is so detailed that I almost felt like I was on the beach with him looking half a mile out at the breaking waves. At Waikiki Beach the grass and trees grow right down to the water. One can sit under the shade of one of these trees peering out into the ocean where the surf pounds a half-mile out, ending up at the feet of the onlooker. “And suddenly, out there where a big smoker lifts skyward, rising like a sea-god from out of the welter of spume and churning white, on the giddy, toppling, overhanging and downfalling, precarious crest appears the dark head of a man” (1). Here London is describing a man who is getting up onto a wave. He describes every action that the wave takes. It rises up to its highest point, begins to curl over, hanging on an edge, and suddenly drops down onto itself. Imagery is used throughout the entire story by Jack to allow the reader to see what is going on at all times. “And one sits and thinks of Tristram’s last wrestle with the sea on that fatal morning; and one thinks further, to the fact that Kanaka has done what Tristram never did, and he knows a joy of the sea that Tristram never knew” (1). Jack sees the Kanaka’s ability to defeat the wave’s power like no one had ever done before, which leads him to believe that if this Kanaka can do it, he can do it as well. The Kanaka’s ability to ride the wave like a bucking bronco, or a wild bull gives him faith that he can do this too. Learning to surf will allow him to experience the joy that Tristram never knew.
This story also has a very strong setting. Jack lays out every detail just as he experienced it. The grass and trees extending down to the water’s edge at Waikiki Beach, and the breaking waves a half-mile out just pounding on the edge of the reef. Being a surfer, the setting of this story created a sense of happiness for me. Just picturing the beautiful beach, and the perfectly breaking waves slowly coming to shore is absolute perfection.
The conflict in this story is that of man versus nature. The story begins with Jack on land, admiring the beauty of Waikiki Beach, and the power of the surf that is breaking far away. He sees the young children surfing the small waves closer to the shore, and gives it a try. Even the small waves seem to be giving him trouble, but when he is given the proper equipment and technique, Jack is able to surf the small waves. After becoming proficient at surfing these waves he challenges himself to head out to the edge of the reef, and ride the big waves. With the help of his friend Alexander Ford, he is able to harness the power of the wave, and use it for his enjoyment. This is the climax of the story because he has done what he characterized as a godlike activity when he saw the other man surf these big waves. “Shaking the water from my eyes as I emerged from one wave and peered ahead to see what the next one looked like, I saw him tearing in on the back of it, standing upright on his board, carelessly poised, a young god bronzed with sunburn” (2).
The characters in this story should not be referred to as protagonist or antagonist, but they are all dynamic in their own way. Jack is the most dynamic of all the characters. He is shaped by the events that happen to him throughout the story. From sitting on the beach admiring the surf, and the men who ride it. To being out at the edge of the reef surfing the big waves towards the shore. He gains knowledge of surfing, and respect for nature that he never had before. The first wave he caught in the deep water changed him forever. “I scarcely knew what happened the first half-minute. Though I kept my eyes open, I could not see anything, for I was buried in the rushing white of the crest. But I did not mind. I was chiefly conscious of ecstatic bliss at having caught the wave. At the end of the half-minute, however, I began to see things, and to breathe” (2).
The theme of this story is never give up on something that you could potentially love because if you do not see it through to the end you will never know if it would have brought you extreme happiness. I believe London expresses his theme at the end of the story when he states, “And if I fail tomorrow, I shall do it the next day, or the next. Upon one thing I am resolved: the Snark shall not sail from Honolulu until I, too, wing my heels with the swiftness of the sea, and become a sunburned, skin-peeling Mercury” (2). Surfing was something that intrigued Jack very much. If he hadn’t made an effort to learn how to surf he never would have known how much he loved it.