Yasmine's Blog!!

In "The Law of Life", by Jack London, Old Koskoosh, the main character, is part of an Eskimo tribe. Since he is old, lame, blind “And he was very close to death now”, his tribe left him alone to die. The tribe’s tradition suggests that once you have accomplished what you needed to in life and your time has come, you will be left in the snow alone to die. I do not believe that this is in any way a civilized practice. I believe that if one is old and sick, he or she should be especially cared for by his or her family members. Leaving a human being to freeze to death in unethical and hardhearted. The Law of Life is a law that governs how one lives. It basically states that one is born into the world, does what was expected of him or her, and then dies. The Law of Life is very much like a cycle through each generation. Koskoosh recalled an image of an old bull moose being killed by a pack of wolves, after they had “cut him out from his brothers.” The picture of the wolves attacking the moose because of its inability to run and escape as fast as the rest of the other moose has never left Koskoosh’s mind because he is now like that moose. He was left behind because he was old and lame, and not as able and the other tribe members. I had heard of the laws and traditions of the Eskimo tribe so initially I had been surprised, but I then realized that that was their culture. Although I believe that the tradition of leaving the older members of the tribe to freeze to death is immoral, it is part of their way of life and I will respect that.

posted by Yasmine Scott @ 3:47 PM