London's Surfing

I found Jack London’s portrayal of surfriding in “Riding the South Seas of the Surf” particularly interesting because the descriptions of the beaches, the waves, and the surfers allows for the entire experience to come to life in the eyes of the reader. London leaves nothing out, and his writing style makes you feel like you’re the one actually riding the waves. From the opening lines, “…The grass grows right down to the water at Waikiki Beach and within fifty feet of the everlasting sea. The trees also grow down to the salty edge of things, and one sits in their shade and looks seaward at a majestic surf thundering in on the beach to one’s very feet,” I felt like I was there on the beach, seeing and feeling all of what was described (Moser 138).

What was also interesting about London’s portrayal was the description of the native Hawaiian surfers. While other travelers categorized the natives in exotic manners, London pays close attention to the actions of the surfers and their connection with the nature of the wave, painting a literary picture of the reality of surfriding. I was curious about the term London used to describe the Hawaiian surfers—“his black shoulders, his chest, his loins, his limbs… He is a Mercury—a black Mercury” (Moser 138-9).  While London uses these words to point out the differences of the Natives from the white European, his descriptions are almost inviting the reader to come join the native surfer, rather than describing surfing as some foreign ritual that requires one to be Hawaiian in order to be successful at trying it.