The Red One: Difference between revisions
Perspicaris (talk | contribs) + ref |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
[[File:TheRedOne.jpg|thumb|1st collection edition]] |
[[File:TheRedOne.jpg|thumb|1st collection edition]] |
||
:''For other uses, see [[Red One]]'' |
|||
'''"The Red One"''' is a short story by [[Jack London]]. It was first published in the October 1918 issue of ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]'', two years after London's death. The story was reprinted in the same year by [[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|MacMillan]], in a collection of London's stories of the same name.<ref name="SuvinDouglas" /> |
'''"The Red One"''' is a short story by [[Jack London]]. It was first published in the October 1918 issue of ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]'', two years after London's death. The story was reprinted in the same year by [[Macmillan Publishers (United States)|MacMillan]], in a collection of London's stories of the same name.<ref name="SuvinDouglas" /> |
||
Revision as of 07:38, 28 July 2013
- For other uses, see Red One
"The Red One" is a short story by Jack London. It was first published in the October 1918 issue of Cosmopolitan, two years after London's death. The story was reprinted in the same year by MacMillan, in a collection of London's stories of the same name.[1]
The story is told from the perspective of a scientist called Bassett, who is on an expedition in the jungle of Guadalcanal for collecting butterflies. The "Red One" of the title refers to a giant red sphere, of apparently extraterrestial origin, that the headhunting natives worship as their god, and to which they perform human sacrifices. Bassett becomes obsessed with the Red One, and in the end is sacrificed himself. The theme of the story was suggested to London by his friend George Sterling: a message is sent from an alien civilization but is lost in the wilderness. [2]
Critics have noted the possible influence of Carl Jung on the story, as London became aware of Jung's ideas at around the time of writing The Red One in 1916. [3] The story makes an enigmatic reference to helmeted figures, perhaps the alien crew of the Red One. Here London may have anticipated the ancient astronauts of science fiction and pseudoscience. [4]
The US copyright on "The Red One" has expired, and the story is available on Project Gutenberg.
References
- ^ Suvin, Darko; Douglas, David. "Jack London and His Science Fiction: An Annotated Chronological Select Bibliography". Depauw.edu. Science Fiction Studies. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
- ^ Jeanne Campbell Reesman: Jack London's Racial Lives: A Critical Biography
- ^ The Myth of Hope in Jack London's The Red One. In: Leonard Cassuto and Jeanne CampbellReesman: Rereading Jack London. Stanford University Press, 1998.
- ^ David A. Moreland: The Quest that Failed: Jack London's Last Tales of the South Seas. Pacific Studies, 1984 [1]
External links
 | This article about a short story (or stories) is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a book is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |