22 pages • 44 minutes read
Jack LondonThe Law of Life
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1901A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Koskoosh
Koskoosh is a First Nations or Inuit man, and the story’s main character. Although once a tribal chief, Koskoosh is now elderly, blind, and frail to the point that his existence is implied to be a drain on the tribe’s resources. As a result, the tribe leaves him behind when they pack up to seek new hunting grounds, providing him with no supplies beyond a bit of firewood.
Koskoosh is stoic in the face of this decision, and even assures his son that it is the correct one; as his private thoughts make clear, the hard existence he and his fellow tribesmen lead leaves little room for sentimentality about death. For Koskoosh, it is simply a law of nature that the sole purpose of the individual is to reproduce, or at least to otherwise contribute to the group’s survival. That being the case, he sees little point in mourning his ill health or trying to prolong his existence, though even he cannot entirely quell his instinctive desire to live; at one point, for instance, he indulges in a fantasy of his son returning to save him. Koskoosh’s bravery and pragmatism prevail, however, and the story ends with him surrendering himself to a pack of wolves with calm resignation.
Zing-ha
Zing-ha was a childhood friend of Koskoosh; he grew up to become the “craftiest of hunters” before falling into the Yukon River and freezing to death (Chapter 14). He features prominently in Koskoosh’s memory of the wolves bringing down moose, since he was with Koskoosh at the time and helped track the wounded animal. The fact that Zing-ha died while in his prime is also a reminder of the close proximity of life and death in the far north.
Koskoosh’s Son
Koskoosh’s son is unnamed but nevertheless important; he is the chief of the tribe, “stalwart and strong [...] and a mighty hunter” (Paragraph 2). He is also a devoted son: When the rest of the tribe leaves, he remains behind to say goodbye and to see for himself that his father is content. Nevertheless, he does not return to bring his father to safety as Koskoosh wishes he would; as noble and responsible as Koskoosh’s son is, even he accepts the decision to leave his father behind as a necessary and natural one.
Sit-cum-to-ha
Sit-cum-to-ha is Koskoosh’s grandchild—the daughter of his daughter. He at one point describes her as a “careless child” with no respect for her elders (Paragraph 20), as evidenced by the fact that she didn’t gather more wood for her grandfather. On further reflection, however, Koskoosh suggests that Sit-cum-to-ha’s behavior simply reflects the impatience and self-absorption of all youth.
Koo-tee
Koo-tee is a young, sickly child from Koskoosh’s tribe: “It would die soon, perhaps, and they would burn a hole through the frozen tundra and pile rocks above to keep the wolverines away” (Paragraph 2). Koskoosh’s matter-of-fact attitude towards the child’s likely death underscores the story’s fatalistic attitude towards mortality as the natural order.
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By Jack London
