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, Keeshs father
died when Keesh was very young. As is often the case, the legendary exploits
of Keeshs father was forgotten with time. After many years, the child grows
to be thirteen. Inspired by tales of his fathers 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
tribes chief. A child addressing the tribal elders was seen as precocious.
Keesh declared that he would honor his fathers 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
bears carcass laid a days 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 Keeshs 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 Keeshs 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 couldnt believe. Upon his return, the tribe gathered in Keeshs
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 Kloshkwan, 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 fathers 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. Its 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 Keeshs 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. Its 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 Keeshs 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, doesnt 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
dont 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, its 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 doesnt know about the
character. The author doesnt 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 fathers 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 isnt respected
by the society. We can see that in the story after the death of Keeshs 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 Keeshs 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 Keeshs father sacrifice,
because the Keeshs 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 Keeshs 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,
its 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 Keeshs work. We can get
some moral values that we have expressed in the detail that we have to
appreciate the peoples work and sacrifice and we should not give prejudice
first before we can prove someone else work. Based on the authors 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, its 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
authors live.