Understanding London's "The Law of Life"

All of the following details in (mainly) the first two paragraphs alert the reader that Koskoosh is nearing death EXCEPT:

• he is blind and his body is withered/wrinkled

• his hand is palsied (has paralysis and tremors)

• his hearing is acute (accurate, able to notice small differences)

• he will be left behind

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Part A: What is "the law," according to the text?

• the law of time, in which the older one lives the more likely one will lose others.

• the law of nature, in that all things must eventually die.

• the law of survival, that those who do their duty will survive.

• survival of the fittest, in that nature is indifferent to fairness.

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Part B: Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to Part A?

• "Sled after sled churned slowly away into the silence. They were gone. They had passed out of his life, and he faced the last bitter hour alone." (Paragraph 3)

• "He also was an episode, and would pass away. Nature did not care." (Paragraph 11)

• "To life she set one task, gave one law. To perpetuate was the task of life, its law was death." (Paragraph 11)

• "Here the great animal had fought desperately.... He had done his task long since, but none the less was life dear to him." (Paragraph 17)

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Part A: How does Old Koskoosh feel about being left behind?

• He feels nothing but fear and cannot accept his fate.

• He is resigned to his fate, as it is the way of his tribe and of nature.

• He mostly just resents his son for leaving him, even though he did the same to his father.

• He is happy for the chance to sit in the quiet and to rest.

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Part B: Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to Part A?

• "The thought made the old man panicky for the moment, and he stretched forth a palsied hand which wandered tremblingly over the small heap of dry wood beside him." (Paragraph 2)

• "He remembered other old men whose sons had not waited after the tribe. But his son had." (Paragraph 3)

• "It is well. I am as a last year's leaf, clinging lightly to the stem.... My eyes no longer show me the way of my feet, and my feet are heavy, and I am tired. It is well." (Paragraph 9)

• "...he knew his son was beyond recall. Then his hand crept out in haste to the wood." (Paragraph 10)

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The moose’s struggle to survive can be seen to represent what about most living things?

• the determination of living things to resist when death is approaching

• the hopelessness of living things that comes when death is approaching

• the intrigue (fascination) of living things that comes when death is approaching

• the responsibility of living things to accept when death is approaching

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Part A: Which of the following best describes how the author portrays nature?

• The author describes nature in very simple terms, hardly employing imagery in his description.

• The author describes nature as mankind's enemy, constantly out to destroy it.

• The author personifies nature, attributing it with a seeming conscious attitude towards living creatures.

• The author depicts nature as repetitive and dull, an endless and meaningless cycle.

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Part B: Which of the following best supports the answer to Part A?

• "Nature was not kindly to the flesh. She had no concern for that concrete thing called the individual. Her interest lay in the species, the race." (Paragraph 11)

• "The rise of the sap, the bursting greenness of the willow bud, the fall of the yellow leaf—in this alone was told the whole history." (Paragraph 11)

• "Her limbs dragged and shuffled, her eyes dimmed and bleared, and only the little children found joy against the withered cheek of the old squaw by the fire. Her task was done." (Paragraph 11)

• "The mosquitoes vanished with the first frost. The little tree-squirrel crawled away to die." (Paragraph 12)

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The rhetorical questions at the end of the story serve to make the reader speculate about the law of life. Considering the details of the story, especially how the story ends, which statement best reflects what London believes “the law of life” to be?

• Always remember the past; it holds many lessons.

• Cling to family; they will always support you.

• All living things must die; resisting it is pointless.

• Never give up hope; it keeps you going.

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