Landscape in Alaskan Fiction

This week’s reading contained many different descriptions of the early Alaskan lands. Louis L’Amours, “Sitka,” was a wonderful read. While the excerpt did not really contain descriptions of the lands I found myself wanting to finish the book. In Rex Beach’s “The Killing” the city of Nome is described as a bustling hub of activity where 30 thousand people dwell. His description of the landscape is very Alaskan. Beach tells readers, “the beach afforded the only dry camping ground as the bank behind was a mass of knee deep moss and water and further on, a bog of oozing , icy mud (72). These are some of the basic components of the Alaskan landscape. If the book did not tell readers Beach had visited Alaska himself we might have assumed he had firsthand knowledge of the land from some source. His descriptions are dead on. 

Beach shares the perils of the gold rush with his readers after Miss Chester and the Captain take to the land to find a lawyer. They innocently stumble into a squabble over gold where Miss Chester is almost killed and one man lay dead at the hands of another. This was the reality of the gold rush. Men fought and died to acquire wealth. Many left everything to strike it rich and never found any gold. The idea of becoming rich overnight was such a draw to so many that they did not stop to consider the harsh, sometimes impenetrable lands to which they were invading. Alaska made some men buy broke many others.  The descriptions in this story reminded of Jack London’s works. He was a master at descriptions. In his tale, “To Build a Fire,” London writes, “The Yukon lay a mile wide and hidden under three feet of ice. On top of this ice were as many feet of snow (686).” He talks about man’s fragility, of our ability to live only “within certain narrow limits of heat and cold.” The harsh Alaskan land can reach temperatures in excess of 70 below zero, a fact that many early gold rush settlers did not understand.

The last story in this week’s reading hit a special note with me. As I endeavor to become a Special Education teacher, fair treatment of children is an important issue. Ms. Hobbs arrived in Chicken to teach school. She did not foresee the mistreatment and racial prejudice of the Native people that she eventually witnessed. When the white settlers came to Alaska they brought with them the same mentality the early European settlers brought to East coast of the United States. The lands were being taken over by the Europeans and anyone who resided there was uncivilized and barbaric. In the eyes of the school board of Chicken Native children did not have the right to attend school with their children because they were uncivilized. This is ultimately a racial issue much like the African American people suffered. It’s simply inequality due to differences in cultural beliefs and way of life. Many people do not embrace what they cannot explain or what is different to them. I applauded Ms. Hobbs strength of character and unwillingness to back down when faced with an ultimatum. If only every person possessed the same character. 

This photo depicts men and their dog sled team in the Yukon in 1899.

 

This link takes you to what has been called the one of the greatest films based on the Gold Rush, Charlie Chaplin's silent movie "The Gold Rush," from 1925. Film length 1:35:04 The first 2 minutes and 27 seconds show hundreds of men attempting to cross Chilkoot Pass on foot. They carry their supplies on their backs as they slowly climb hundreds of feet.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGOPYzqSFBg

References

Mergler, Wayne. (1998). The Last New Land: Stories of Alaska Past and Present, (Eds). Portland OR. Alaska Northwest Books.

Teacher, Lawrence & Nicholls, Richard E. (1997). The Unabridged Jack London, J. London (Ed.). Philadelphis, PA. Courage Books.