THE ANALYSIS OF THE STORY OF KEESH

1. The Introduction

The story of Keesh is a short story which was written by Jack London that was first published in January of 1904. Keesh was the son
of a great huntsman, who was well known and respected in his tribe. Unfortunately, Keesh’s father died when Keesh was very young.
As is often the case, the legendary exploits of Keesh’s father was forgotten with time. After many years, the child grows to be
thirteen. Inspired by tales of his father’s skills as a hunter, and emboldened by his self-confidence and the lackluster amount of food
being gathered by the tribe, he addressed the village elders in the Igloo of the tribe’s chief. A child addressing the tribal elders was
seen as precocious. Keesh declared that he would honor his father’s memory and became a great hunter, and bring back a wealth of
meat for his people. He was scorned, and they allowed him to go off on his own. Many never expected to hear from him again. Four
days later Keesh returned, with an enormous burden of freshly-killed meat over his shoulders. He explained that an entire polar
bear’s carcass laid a day’s travel from the village. The villagers were stunned by this boy having endured the elements and
succeeded in his quest, became suspicious. After several more hunting excursions on Keesh’s part, all alone and all resulting in
enormous amounts of meat for the tribe, the villagers begin whispering that Keesh is undoubtedly practicing witchcraft. However,
they had no choice but to be loyal to this manchild, as he had begun to provide them all with bounteous food. Keesh had the
appreciative villagers construct for him an enormous Igloo, rivaling that of the chief. After more speculation and Inuendo as to the
source of Keesh’s hunting prowess, it was decided to send two scouts to follow him on a hunting exhibition. They returned several
days later, having been successful in trailing Keesh to his kill, an enormous (and dangerous) polar bear. They told a tale that the
tribal council simply couldn’t believe. Upon his return, the tribe gathered in Keesh’s igloo to accuse him of witchcraft. He answered
their charges well. Keesh explained the source of his hunting success. He explained why the two scouts sent to follow him observed
him striding up to the bear, enraging it, and convincing it to follow him. He explained why the scouts witnessed his leaving small
round balls of food on the ice for the bear, and why the bear soon became ill, and deranged. He explained how he was then able to
spear the bear without endangering himself.

2. Detail

a. Plot and Conflict Structure

In the beginning of the story the author tells about a boy who had name Keesh lived in the poor condition together with his mother.
Keesh lived at the edge of the polar sea. The father of Keesh had been a brave man. But he had died hunting for food. Keesh was his
only son. Keesh lived along with his mother, Ikeega. One night, the village council met in the big Igloo of Klosh-kwan, the chief. He
listened, then he waited for silence. He said, “It is true that you give us some meat. But it is often old and tough meat, and has many
bones.” The hunters were surprised. This was a child speaking against them. The council ordered Keesh to go to bed. The next day,
Keesh started out for the shore, where the land meets the ice. Those who watched saw that he carried his bow and many arrows.
Across his shoulder was his father’s big hunting spear. Again there was laughter. One day passed, then a second. On the third day, a
great wind blew. There was no sign of Keesh. This part is the beginning of the conflict. His mother, Ikeega, put burned seal oil on her
face to show her sorrow. The women shouted at their men for letting the little boy go. The men made no answer, but got ready to
search for the body of Keesh. Early next morning, Keesh walked into the village. Across his shoulders was fresh meat. It’s the middle
of the story. His mother was very happy. Keesh, trying to be a man, said to her mother that he would sleep because he was tired.
There was much talk after Keesh went to his igloo. The killing of a bear was dangerous. But it was three times more dangerous to kill
a mother bear with cubs. The conflict is rising action by knowing that the men did not believe Keesh had done so. But the women
pointed to the fresh meat. At last, the men agreed to go for the meat that was left. But they were not very happy. So began the
mystery of Keesh. On his next trip, he killed a young bear and on the following trip, a large male bear and its mate. Then there was
talk of magic and witchcraft in the vill. Keesh continued to bring meat to the village. Some people thought he was a great hunter.
There was talk of making him chief, after old Klosh-kwan. They waited, hoping he would come to council meetings. But he never
came. The council sat up late talking about Keesh and the meat. They decided to spy on him. On Keesh’s next trip, two young
hunters, Bim and Bawn, followed him. After five days, they returned. The council met to hear their story, then the two hunters
reported what they had seen. Klosh-kwan led the council to the igloo of Keesh. Keesh told the people in the village how he had killed
the bears: he bent some thin pieces of whalebone. The ends were pointed and sharp as a knife. Keesh bent the thin, sharp bones as
knives into circles, then put some seal meat inside them, then put them in the snow to freeze. The bear had eaten the ball of meat
with the circle of bone inside. When the meat got inside the bear, the meat got warm, and the bone went snap! The sharp points
made the bear sick. It is easy to kill them. The conflict is falling action here. Keesh used head-craft, instead of witchcraft, he rose
from the poorest igloo to be the chief in the village. And for all the years that followed, his people were happy. No one cried at night
with pains of hunger. It’s the end of the story. The story ends with a close denoument. We know that from the end of the story when
Keesh told about how he could kill big bears with two bare hands. Apparently he used his brain/wits that made the others said “Ah”
for understanding it.
b. Character

1) Keesh

Keesh was a thirteen-year-old boy who lived at the North Pole a long time ago. His father died of sruggling with a bear in order to
keep the people in the village from starving. After that, Keesh lived alone with his mother. One council Keesh complained about
unfair treatment, but other people laughed at him. Therefore, he decided to hunt by himself. Later on, Keesh used his brain to kill
many bears and divided them fairly. In the end, Keesh rose to power and became the leader of his people. Keesh is the major
character of this story. He appears throughout the story. He is a round character, we can prove that from the beginning of the story
and the ending. At the beginning he is a young boy who is innocence, but at the end of the story he becomes a brave man who is
respected by the others. He is protagonist character. He has an important role and he is the central figure in the story.

2) Klosh-Kwan

Klosh-Kwan was the chief of the village who lived in a large igloo. In the beginning, he could not believe Keesh, but he admired him
later. He is a deutragonist because in the beginning of the story, he has opposed Keesh but at the end he generously acknowledges
what he sees. He is a round character too.

3) Ikeega

Ikeega was Keesh’s mother who lived only with his sole son. She loved his son very much. She is a flat character, because from the
beginning until the end she is the same, doesn’t develop. She is a tritagonist because she is a character which is needed as the
complement in the story.

4) Ugh-Gluk

Ugh-Gluk were opposed Keesh from the beginning until the end of the story. So, Ugh-Gluk is considered as the antagonist and has
flat character.

5) Bim and Bawn

Bim and Bawn were two clever young hunters who were appointed to spy on Keesh. They told how Keesh killed bears when they
came back. They are a tritagonist character because they just appear in some parts of the story and don’t have important role, the
are just as complement and flat character.

c. Setting

The Story of Keesh takes place in a cold area. We can conclude from the word “Igloo” which we can find in the story. Igloo is a type
of shelter built of snow so that we can find in snow area that originally built by Inuit. Furthermore, we can explore it from the story
itself. Keesh hunted bear, as we know that the bear just find in cold area, it’s pole.So, we conclude that it takes place in a cold area.

d. Point of View

In this short story, the author takes place as third person limited omniscient. It means that the author knows everything about the
character which he creates, but there is a place where the author doesn’t know about the character. The author doesn’t know what
is in the deep heart of the character.
e. Style and Tone

The style that is used in this story is a good style in literature work. It is used the English old style. We can find some sentences in the
story which use the old style. For an instance, “Thou hast a wife Ugh-Gluk”. The word “thou” means you. Beside that, we can find
figuratice language here. For example, look at the following sentence, “The anger boiled a white heat”.

f. Theme and The Moral Value of The Story

The theme of this short story is the sacrifice which is forgotten. Keesh tries to prove that his father has become the savior for his
community. He comes again to make the society aware that they have to appreciate every sacrifice of the person. We can derive
some moral values of this story such as we have to appreciate the sacrifice of a person and we should not have bad prejudice
towards each other.

3. Discussion

From the detail that we have explained above, we are interested in theme and the moral value of the story. The theme of the story
is the sacrifice which is forgotten. This phenomena is commonly found in community life. In fact, we often find in our daily lives.
After Keesh was born, when he was young, his father had been a very brave man, when a time of famine came, he was willing to
sacrifice himself to go to hunt bear alone. While we know that bears are wild animals, but he thought of how his society could
survive. This makes Bok, Keesh father’s went out hunting without thinking of his own safety. After the death of Bok, people around
him tend to forget the sacrifice and struggle that he has done.So, we can say that the theme portrays about the characteristic of the
characters in the story. The theme forms the characteristic of the characters in the story. The sacrifice which is forgotten means that
Keesh father had desire to save the society by hunting the bear. However, he failed and died. On the other hand, his sacrifice isn’t
respected by the society. We can see that in the story after the death of Keesh’s father, Keesh and his mother were ignored by the
society such as they were isolated from the society, they were left to live in slum suburb. By knowing the sacrifice of Keesh’s father,
the society should be empathy and care about them. They should treat them like the other members of the society. In fact, it was
not like that. As the result, we know that the characteristic of the characters in the story are portrayed from the Keesh’s father
sacrifice, because the Keesh’s father sacrifice is unvalued in the society. We can see from the characters in the story such as
Ugh-Gluk. Ugh-Gluk is the harsh person, then she likes to underestimate people. it looks at the story that from the beginning until
the ending of the story she is still unconscious with the sacrifice of the Keesh’s father. She still opposes Keesh desire to go to hunt
the bear by himself. That is the proof that she is a harsh person. Beside that, she likes to underestimate the people seems when she
said to Keesh that, it’s impossible to the son of a failure in hunting will be success to hunt the bear who is 13 years old by himself.
Not only the Ugh-Gluk character that we can see from the theme but also the other characters. After the death of his father, Keesh
lived alone with his mother in poverty and they are quickly forgotten by the society. In contrast to when Keesh has grown and
become a strong boy, he tried to prove the community that he is able to hunt. When he succeeded in getting some bear meat, the
people around him change into community who appreciate and elevating them into the higher class. Before Keesh succeeded in
proving his intelligence in the hunt process, the people around him have given prejudiced by accusing first that Keesh has used
magic to get the bear meat. This story shows the character in a community life. They just appreciate someone when he/she
succeeds to give something to the society/community and they immediately forget it then. Finally, we can know the caharacteric of
the characters through the theme.

4. Conclusion

Through this literature work, the author tries to portray the phenomena that is commonly found in our life. Keeesh is a major
character who has important role in the story that the author expect to be able to create the impression of being a savior in the
community. Keesh tries to sensitize the community by doing the same thing as that of his father do in the past. Finally, he succeeds
in showing to the community that his father is a figure of people who contributed to the community life by looking into Keesh’s work.
We can get some moral values that we have expressed in the detail that we have to appreciate the people’s work and sacrifice and
we should not give prejudice first before we can prove someone else work. Based on the author’s life who had experienced as the
laborer, factory worker, oyster pirate on the San Francisco Bay, member of the California Fish Patrol, sailor, railroad hobo, and gold
prospector and he endorsed socialism, it’s related to the theme of story that told about the social life in human relation in the
community. Beside that, the live of the main character in the story has connection with the real author’s live.
 SUMMARY OF THE STORY
“Story of Keesh” by Jack London

Keesh lived at the edge of the polar sea. He had seen thirteen suns in the Eskimo way of keeping time. Among the Eskimos, the sun
each winter leaves the land in darkness. And the next year, a new sun returns, so it might be warm again.

The father of Keesh had been a brave man. But he had died hunting for food. Keesh was his only son. Keesh lived along with his
mother, Ikeega.

One night, the village council met in the big igloo of Klosh-kwan, the chief. Keesh was there with the others. He listened, then waited
for silence.

He said, “It is true that you give us some meat. But it is often old and tough meat, and has many bones.”

The hunters were surprised. This was a child speaking against them. A child talking like a grown man!

Keesh said, “My father, Bok, was a great hunter. It is said that Bok brought home more meat than any of the two best hunters. And
that he divided the meat so that all got an equal share.”

“Naah! Naah!” the hunters cried. “Put the child out! Send him to bed. He should not talk to gray-beards this way!”

Keesh waited until the noise stopped. “You have a wife, Ugh-gluk,” he said. “And you speak for her. My mother has no one but me.
So I speak. As I say, Bok hunted greatly, but is now dead. It is only fair then that my mother, who was his wife, and I, his son, should
have meat when the tribe has meat. I, Keesh, son of Bok, have spoken.”

Again, there was a great noise in the igloo. The council ordered Keesh to bed. It even talked of giving him no food.

Keesh jumped to his feet. “Hear me!” he cried. “Never shall I speak in the council igloo again. I shall go hunt meat like my father,
Bok.”

There was much laughter when Keesh spoke of hunting. The laughter followed Keesh as he left the council meeting.

The next day, Keesh started out for the shore, where the land meets the ice. Those who watched saw that he carried his bow and
many arrows. Across his shoulder was his father’s big hunting spear. Again there was laughter.
One day passed, then a second. On the third day, a great wind blew. There was no sign of Keesh. His mother, Ikeega, put burned seal
oil on her face to show her sorrow. The women shouted at their men for letting the little boy go. The men made no answer, but got
ready to search for the body of Keesh.

Early next morning, Keesh walked into the village. Across his shoulders was fresh meat. “Go you men, with dogs and sleds. Follow my
footsteps. Travel for a day,” he said. “There is much meat on the ice. A she-bear and her two cubs.”

His mother was very happy. Keesh, trying to be a man, said to her, “Come, Ikeega, let us eat. And after that, I shall sleep. For I am
tired.”

There was much talk after Keesh went to his igloo. The killing of a bear was dangerous. But it was three times more dangerous to kill
a mother bear with cubs. The men did not believe Keesh had done so. But the women pointed to the fresh meat. At last, the men
agreed to go for the meat that was left. But they were not very happy.

One said that even if Keesh had killed the bear, he probably had not cut the meat into pieces. But when the men arrived, they found
that Keesh had not only killed the bear, but had also cut it into pieces, just like a grown hunter.

So began the mystery of Keesh.

On his next trip, he killed a young bear…and on the following trip, a large male bear and its mate.

Then there was talk of magic and witchcraft in the village. “He hunts with evil spirits,” said one. “Maybe his father’s spirit hunts with
him,” said another.

Keesh continued to bring meat to the village. Some people thought he was a great hunter. There was talk of making him chief, after
old Klosh-kwan. They waited, hoping he would come to council meetings. But he never came.

“I would like to build an igloo.” Keesh said one day, “but I have no time. My job is hunting. So it would be just if the men and women
of the village who eat my meat, build my igloo.” And the igloo was built. It was even bigger than the igloo of the Chief Klosh-kwan.

One day, Ugh-gluk talked to Keesh. “It is said that you hunt with evil spirits, and they help you kill the bear.”

“Is not the meat good?” Keesh answered. “Has anyone in the village yet become sick after eating it? How do you know evil spirits are
with me? Or do you say it because I am a good hunter?”

Ugh-gluk had no answer.

The council sat up late talking about Keesh and the meat. They decided to spy on him.

On Keesh’s next trip, two young hunters, Bim and Bawn, followed him. After five days, they returned. The council met to hear their
story.

“Brothers,” Bim said, “we followed Keesh, and he did not see us. The first day he came to a great bear. Keesh shouted at the bear,
loudly. The bear saw him and became angry. It rose high on its legs and growled. But Keesh walked up to it.”
“We saw it,” Bawn, the other hunter, said. “The bear began to run toward Keesh. Keesh ran away. But as he ran, he dropped a little
round ball on the ice. The bear stopped and smelled the ball, then ate it. Keesh continued to run, dropping more balls on the ice. The
bear followed and ate the balls.”

The council members listened to every word. Bim continued the story. “The bear suddenly stood up straight and began to shout in
pain.

“Evil spirits,” said Ugh-gluk.

I do not know,” said Bawn. “I can tell only what my eyes saw. The bear grew weak. Then it sat down and pulled at its own fur with its
sharp claws. Keesh watched the bear that whole day.”

“For three more days, Keesh continued to watch the bear. It was getting weaker and weaker. Keesh moved carefully up to the bear
and pushed his father’s spear into it.”

“And then?” asked Klosh-kwan.

“And then we left.”

That afternoon, the council talked and talked. When Keesh arrived in the village, the council sent a messenger to ask him to come to
the meeting. But Keesh said he was tired and hungry. He said his igloo was big and could hold many people, if the council wanted a
meeting.

Klosh-kwan led the council to the igloo of Keesh. Keesh was eating, but he welcomed them. Klosh-kwan told Keesh that two hunters
had seen him kill a bear. And then, in a serious voice to Keesh, he said, “We want to know how you did it.” Did you use magic and
witchcraft?”

Keesh looked up and smiled. “No, Klosh-kwan. I am a boy. I know nothing of magic or witchcraft. But I have found an easy way to kill
the ice-bear. It is head-craft, not witchcraft.”

“And will you tell us, O Keesh?” Klosh-kwan asked in a shaking voice.

“I will tell you. It is very simple. Watch.”

Keesh picked up a thin piece of whalebone. The ends were pointed and sharp as a knife. Keesh bent the bone into a circle. Suddenly
he let the bone go, and it became straight with a sharp snap. He picked up a piece of seal meat.

“So,” he said, “first make a circle with a sharp, thin piece of whale bone. Put the circle of bone inside some seal meat. Put it in the
snow to freeze. The bear eats the ball of meat with the circle of bone inside. When the meat gets inside the bear, the meat gets
warm, and the bone goes snap! The sharp points make the bear sick. It is easy to kill then. It is simple.”

Ugh-gluk said, “Ohhh!” Klosh-kwan said “Ahh!” Each said something in his own way. And all understood.

That is the story of Keesh, who lived long ago on the edge of the polar sea. Because he used head-craft, instead of witchcraft, he
rose from the poorest igloo to be the chief in the village. And for all the years that followed, his people were happy. No one cried at
night with pains of hunger.