Martin Eden · Chapter
VI explained
Martin Eden's restless hunger for Ruth Morse drives him to self-education and physical reform.
What happens
Martin Eden's restless hunger for Ruth Morse drives him to self-education and physical reform. He obtains library cards, reads voraciously (Swinburne, Kipling), buys a dictionary and grooming tools, and adopts a cold bath and creased trousers. He lurks near Ruth's home, sees her at the theater, and later encounters two working-class girls, with whom he briefly converses while waiting to glimpse Ruth leaving the theater.
Themes in this chapter
Education and Self-Improvement
Martin's voracious reading, dictionary purchase, and adoption of grooming and hygiene habits illustrate his drive to better himself for Ruth.
Social Class and Mobility
Martin's awareness of class differences is heightened by his observations of Ruth's world and his own working-class background, as seen in his reactions to the two girls.
Love and Idealism
Martin's idealization of Ruth fuels his transformation and his disdain for his former habits, viewing her as a symbol of purity and higher life.
Characters to notice
- Martin Eden
Consumed by love for Ruth, he begins self-education, reforms his appearance and habits, and lurks near the Morse home.
- Ruth Morse
The object of Martin's obsession; he glimpses her at the theater and through a window.
- Gertrude
Martin uses her library card and later invades her kitchen for an ironing board.
- Marian
Martin uses her library card as well.
- Jim
Martin obtains his consent for a library card at the expense of several glasses of beer.
- Bernard Higginbotham
Charges Martin extra for gas and water, and disapproves of his new habits.
Key passages
“A terrible restlessness that was akin to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. He was famished for a sight of the girl whose slender hands had gripped his life with a giant’s grasp.”
Martin Eden felt an intense, almost physical hunger to see Ruth, whose delicate hands had taken a powerful hold on his life.
Opens the chapter, establishing Martin's obsessive longing for Ruth.
“He dared not go near Ruth’s neighborhood in the daytime, but night found him lurking like a thief around the Morse home, stealing glimpses at the windows and loving the very walls that sheltered her.”
Martin avoided the Morse house during the day, but at night he skulked nearby like a thief, cherishing even the walls that enclosed her.
Illustrates Martin's secretive, almost voyeuristic devotion to Ruth.
“With Martin the need for strong drink had vanished. He was drunken in new and more profound ways—with Ruth, who had fired him with love and with a glimpse of higher and eternal life; with books, that had set a myriad maggots of desire gnawing in his brain; and with the sense of personal cleanliness he was achieving.”
Martin no longer needed alcohol; he was intoxicated by his love for Ruth, by the books that stirred his mind, and by the new physical cleanliness he cultivated.
Highlights Martin's transformation from drinking to higher pursuits.
“He knew, did he belong in Ruth’s class, that there would be no overtures from these girls; and with each glance of theirs he felt the fingers of his own class clutching at him to hold him down.”
Martin understood that if he were of Ruth's social class, these working-class girls would not approach him, and their attention reminded him of the class trying to pull him back.
Reveals Martin's awareness of class barriers and his struggle to rise above them.
