Eugenics and Social Darwinism in - Popular/American Culture ...

John R. HensleyEugenics and Social Darwinism inStanley Waterloo's The Story of Ab andJack London's Before AdamIn this essay, I examine two novels from the era of the turn of thetwentieth century as parts of the intertextual apparatus of the prehistoricfiction genre andthe ideological vectors of SocialDarwinism andtheprinciplesof eugenic s. Social Darwinism has a particularly robust traj ectoryin Stanley Waterloo's novel The Story of Ab: ATale of the Time of theCaveman, and the principles of eugenics are strongly interrogated in JackLondon's novel Before Adam.Not long after Charles Darwin introduced his theory of evolution in1859, social scientists, most notably Herbert Spencer in England andWilliam Graham SumnerintheUnited States, began applying thetheoryof natural selection to human society. Their ideas became known as SocialDarwinism, the belief that particular individuals, and by extrapolationcertain classes, societies, and races, were genetically more "fit" than othersand destined for success at the expense of the "unfit." According toSpencer and those who agreed with him, societies, classes, and raceswere subject to natural selection and evolved toward perfection just asspecies did. The notion that the "unfit" would suffer as a result-that theyhad to suffer as part of the process-was to be expected and acceptedsince the outcome would be the overall improvement of mankind andsociety. Spencerian Social Darwinism held that the attainment of social

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Eugenics and Social Darwinism 25olithic andNeolithic periods-thathumans leamed to make fine, polishedtools and weapons gradually and naturally, as Ab does in the book. Duringhis life, Ab also invents and perfects the bow and arrow, and is the firstto domesticate wolves.In the beginning of Ab the Caveman, Waterloo goes to great painsto inform readers that the tale takes place near the banks of a stream laterto be known as the Thames, which in "the Age of Stone" emptied not intothe English Channel, which did not exist at the time owing to lower sealevels, but was instead a "part of a great affluent of the Rhine, the Germanriver famous still, but then with a size and sweep worth talking of ' (4).Waterloo writes: "Then the Thames and the Elbe and the Wesser, intowhich tumbled a thousand smaller streams, all went to feed what is nowthe Rhine, and that then tremendous river held its course through denseforests and deep gorges until it reached broad plains, where the NorthSea is today, and blended finally with the Northern Ocean" (4). Althoughon its face it may appear that Waterloo took such pains to situate his storyin "correct" prehistoric geographical terms forpurely "scientific" reasons,he does so in a way that also makes it clear that the narrative takes placewithin a greater "Teutonis" lenlm-1he locus of the evolution of the "superior"Teutonic "races."One of the tenets of the theory of the superiority of "races" of Teutonicorigin was that these "races" were responsible for most technologicaladvancements throughout history. InThe Story of Ab. Waterloo extendsthis to include prehistory. In an introduction to the novel, he writes:After an at least long-continued study of the existing evidenceand information relating to the Stone Ages, the conviction grewupon [Waterloo] that the mysterious gap supposed by scientificteachers to divide Paleolithic from Neolithic man never existed.No convulsion ofnature, no new race ofhuman beings is neededto explain the difference between the relics of paleolithic andNeolithic strugglers. Growth, experiment, adaptation, discovery,inevitable in man, sufficiently account for all the relatively swiftchanges from one form of primitive life to another more advanced,from the time of chipped to that of polished implements. Man has25.1 October 2002

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Eugenics and Social Darwinism 27scope. The Story of Ab cantherefore be read as an attemptto confirmthat these kinds of things had happened before as the result of technologicaladvances made by the superior Teutonic "races," which races hadtime and again discovered ways to solve these problems through isolation,domination, violence, and their genetically "superior" morals and intellect.The climax of the The Story of Ab rs a celebration of the superiorityof the genetically fitterAb andhis people,labeledby Waterloo the "WesternCave Men," as demonstrated by the successful defense of their hometerritory from invasion by the "Eastern Cave Men." Ab and the WesternCave Men have moved into "The Fire Country," aplace discovered byAb and subsequently colonized by him, his family, and their kith and kin.The Fire Country is a natural fortress-a valley almost completely encircledby a natural wall of flame, created by natural gas leaking from a greatcrack in the ground ignited by lightning, and by sheer rock outcroppings.The Fire Country is well stocked with fresh water and plenty of the otherresources needed by the Western Cave Men.In the chapter "The Battle of the Barriers," the more numerous EasternCave Men, led by their swarthy leader "Boarface," contest the possessionof this most felicitous place by Ab and the Western Cave Men(264-286). The outcome of the battle is in doubt more than once, but Aband his Western Cave Men carry the day through superior tactics andtechnology by using the natural barriers in the most efficient ways, andbecause they possess more and know how to use more and deadlierweapons than their enemy. After the battle, the Western Cave Men alsodemonstrate their "moral superiority" by adopting the prisoners they havetaken instead of killing them. Waterloo gives us this "insight" into thereasoning of both factions on this forced assimilation:There was a council that night between Ab and his friends and,the easiest way of disposing of the prisoners in the cave, it wasproposed to block the entrance and allow the miserable losers inbattle to there starve at their leisure. But the thoughtful Old Mok[Ab's mentor] took Ab aside and said:25.1 October 2002

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Eugenics and Social Darwinism 29wielding "the smoothed stone weapons" of Ab's conceptionto "thebronzeaxes" as they diverge "in many branches of contentious defenders andinvaders, to become Iberian and Gaul and Celt and Saxon, to flght familyagainst family, and to commingle again in these later times" (290).In these later times, the "good blue blood" of Ab and Lightfoot remainspotent, for among their descendents are numbered these individuals:[. . .] a woman, cultured, very beautiful and wise in woman's wayand among the fairest and the best of all the earth can produce[. . .] a rugged man, gentle as resolute and noble [who] becamethe enshrined hero of a vast republic, when he struck from slavelimbs the shackles of four million people [. . .] an old man vigorousin his octogenarianism, a power, though out of power, afigure to be a monument in personal history, a great man[. . . ] one who has bound the nations together in sympathy forLes Miserables of the earth [. . .] a bald headed giant in cavalryboots, one who has dictated arbitrarily, as premier, the policy ofan empire he has largely made. (291)Ab and Lightfoot's success-their survival in a hostile environment-thusleads directly, if remotely, to thebirth and successes of the "Ideal'Woman"and "Super Men" such as, in a disturbingly oblique way, Abraham Lincolnand Victor Hugo, and, not so tangentially, Otto Von Bismarck. Ab andLightfoot were, in eugenic tems, a genetically ideal couple deserving ofprivileged reproductive status.B y the early years of the twentieth century the main point of Darwin'stheory of evolution had been utterly altered by the influences of SocialDarwinism, race theorists, and an incomplete understanding of the principlesof genetics from its original focus on the origin of species to thepseudo-science of "eugenics," a tetm coined by Charles Darwin's cousinFrancis Galton in 1883. Galton was a mathematician and scientist whowas greatly impressed and influenced by his older cousin's theoreticalwork and determined to expand upon it. His contribution, which he called"eugenics" from a Greek root meaning "well bom," was the conception ofa science that would improve the human species giving, in his words quotedin Pat Shipman's bookThe Evolution of Racism: Human Dffirences25-l October 2002

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Eugenics and Social Darwinism 31Jukeses from the rest of society for life, and thereby obviating the problemswrought by their genetically flawed offspring, would have been about$25,000, and the cost of sterilizingthe original Jukeses would have beena bargain at $150 (91).As was Social Darwinism, eugenics was rooted in nineteenth-centuryconfusionof national identities withrace andnourishedby the uneasecaused by the perplexing collection of social, political, economic, andcultural changes that occurred in the era of the turn of the twentieth century.Eugenics enjoyed a reputation as a potent, objective science thatpointed the way to countering the perceived threats posedby these changes.The man mostcredited withbringing Eugenics to AmericafromBritain,where it had gained a stronghold under the auspices of Galton and hisprotdgd Karl Pearson, was the Harvard-trained biologist Charles Davenport.Davenport did much to develop the "science" of eugenics. Heworked to capture and maintain hereditary information on individuals, lobbyfor eugenics-based legislation, and popularize eugenics through the auspicesof the Eugenics Record Office, which was financed in large part bythe extremely wealthy Mrs. E. H. Harriman. Davenport was not alone,however. For example, at the same time Davenport was active, and withhis collaboration, the American Breeders Association (ABA) devoteditself to investigating eugenics issues. The ABA formed a committee thatfocused on the presumed hereditary differences between human racesand actively popularized the themes of selective breeding of superior stock,the biological threat of "inferior types," and the need for recording andconnolling human heredity. One of the strongest supporters, and financialbackers, of the eugenics movement was cereal magnate J. H. Kellogg,who founded the Race Betterment Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan,in 1906.Also in 1906, the same year Kellogg created the Race BettermentFoundation, American novelist and short story writerJack London enteredthe eugenics discourse when he began the serialized publication ofhis novel Before Adam.London, who would author over fifty books offiction and non-fiction in his short life, is known today for his romantic25.1 October 2002

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Eugenics and Social Darwinism 33tion. The third "race" inBefore Adamtsthe "Folk." The Folk look lesslike modern humans than the Fire People do and less like apes than theTree People do. Like the Tree people, they use a basic form of voc alizedcommunication, although they do have a larger vocabulary than the TreePeople. Unlike the Tiee People, the Folk have some technology-sticksand stones used for weapons, gourds used to carry water. Like the FirePeople, most of the Folk live in caves, but they lack the Fire People'ssocial organization and are therefore less able to cooperate and act incoordinated activities such as hunting and warfare.These "racial" differences seem to be profound, particularly the differencesthat separate the Fire People from the other two. However,London seems to suggest that even these differences may not be so greatas they seem, at least in "genetic" terms. "Certainly," the modern narratorasserts in the novel, "all three kinds were related, and not so remotely atthat" ( 163). What London appea.rs to be arguing is that the "races" aredifferentiatedby something thatis not so much genetically "inheritable" asitis culturally determined, andthis inquiry is cenffal to themaincharacter'slife as interpreted by the modern narrator.The modem narratorcalls the prehistoric protagonistinBefore Adamby the name of "Big-Tooth" since he has unusually large canines even fora member of his "race." Big-Tooth is a member of the Folk. The story ofBigfoot's coming of age rnBefore Adarz, unlike Ab's in The Tale of Ab,is one of continued somow and misfortune atthe hands of cruel and mercilessmembers of his own "race" and of the other two. Big-Tooth is atfirst persecuted by his stepfather, the "Chatterer," and thereafter terorizedby the atavistic brutal bully of the Folk, "Red-Eye, who really shouldabide with the Tree People, according to the modern narrator, and who inthe end does. Big Tooth also must occasionally dodge the arrows of FirePeople hunting parties, who apparently have a taste for the Folk. UnlikeAb inWaterloo's novel, Big-Tooth accomplishes no greatthings inhis life.Big-Tooth's one attempt to contribute to what the modern narrator mightconsider progress is unsuccessful; when Big-Tooth brings home a wolfcub to play with, his gluttonous friend and ally "Lop-Ear" kills and eats it25.1 October 2002

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Eugenics and Social Darwinism 35annihilate The Folk. They want The Folk's caves. This is a reversal ofwhat happens at the end of The Story of Ab, when Ab and his banddefeat invaders bent on taking their homes, but the message appears to bethe same: the technologically and socially "frttest" win. However, the defeatand near genocide of The Folkin Before Adam is not the end of thestory, just as the "Battle of the Barriers" is not the end of the story in theStory of Ab.When the Fire People kill all but a few of The Folk, the survivorswho elude the onslaught run away and survive in the best manner theycan. Big-Tooth is aided in his escape from the Fire People by his futuremate, the indomitable and enigmatic "Swift One." The Swift One is afemale who lives with none of the three "races." Big-Tooth first cameacross her living alone in the forest when he and his friend Lop-Ear sufferedthrough a traveling exile forced by the vile Red-Eye. The SwiftOne, as her name implies, is very fleet on both the ground and in thetrees-which is a unique combination since all the "races" excel in one butnot the other. She also exhibits extraordinary physical attributes that leadthe modem narrator to speculate that she is of mixed race-the offspringof aFire Person and one of The Folk. Such mixes were, we learn fromthe modern namator, "[. . . ] not common, still they did occur, and I haveseen the proof of them with mine own eyes, even to the extent of membersof [The Folk] turning renegade and going to live with the Tree People"(135). It is in the character of the Swift One that London challenges theprinciples of eugenics most.According to most eugenicists in the first part of the twentieth centurythe "cross-breeding" of races was, genetically speaking, abad idea.In his 1916 book Being Well-Born: An introduction to Heredity andEugenics, Michael F. Guyer quoted Charles Davenport as having this tosay about miscegenation :Not only physical but also mental and temperamental incompatibilitiesmay be the consequence of hybridization. For example,one often sees in mulattoes an ambition and push combinedwith the intellectual inadequacy which makes the unhappyhybrid dissatisfied with his lot and a nuisance to others.25.1 October 2002

atnlln) tDlndod ul satpwsIrnossltr{'uo1pga8a11o3 relsuFulse l,fierqJl puu IBIror.ueIAI llr-qrrnqJ uolsul \da1sue11'U uqof' q8noue t1pcl3u4'etezr scrue8ne pue tusrura\Juq Ierco Sur punoJ r(eql s:e1|sue eql pue telezuoq'sroleSorrqur eql eluSouolul olpeuqcur lou ererrr,{ue141 'Suruousenb penurluoc su 8ur,fisqus su }ou eJoA\-pouad eqlJo ..ocueros,, eqlJo qonu ,(q pepr,rord Suleq seuo or.Il lsuoltu-sJaA\sue aql uopuol rog sduqred 'LttDpV aro{ag ulpe:ezvrsuuun oB's,oo1.re1u7y1ur e-re ,(eql su '1.rom ea,rluur8urur uu ur peJel\suu {psee ,suor1-senb eseqt ol sJoly\sue e\L'OVo,,etueqlJo euo ouoceq puu e1doe4eJrC aq] ol ur euo8 eABq euruJo luupuoJsep eruos lou r(uur 'puuqJeqloeqt uO lsseco:d srql q8norqt,{tec eunu puu I ptp puv 6uetu Sunuoceqgo sseco;d eq] ur 'uoqcru]sop Jreq] eJoJeq lllod oql eJely\,, :$lsu eH 'JeAo-rvroq 'eq ol eruec eq A\oq lnoqe Jepuol\ seop tolurreu tuepotu eql ,]uep-uecsop rleqJ 'eldoed 1ue:3 ':e1e1;o srolsocuu eq] ere .(eqt tuqt sturulcou eJe ereqt puu 'qv{o {lory aql ul loopq8rl pue qV e{rpn ,e.r,g puerrrupvJo puplu su pelcrdep tou ere ouo Ur^\S eqt pue qtool-31g .ecuedluerBddu ur ,(pureg e esrur ,(pernb ,(eq1 ereq,l ecuyd u-,ppo16;e8uno1,, eqiJo sacureerqt IIe tuo.g uortelosr ur elucu ur 8ur,rq eug UI^\S oqlpuu r11oo1-8lgJo uorsrl u qtr^\ sn seleel uopuo-I 'u,ropy anlagJo pue eril tV'GED uosred,.pezrpuq,(q,, s.lsrcruo8ne eqlJo slseqlrluu er{}-,.ocuureedde Sursueld Jsor.u,,Jo puu ,leercsrp pue esrl\'epue8 puu pFU su pezuelcuJuqc'1cu3 ur ,sl eqs .seqrpnb plueuaedtuel-ro'1u1ueur'lecrsr(qd ..pezruorruuqsrp,, s1seSSns luql Jeq lnoqe Burqlou sre:eql terremoH ..'seceJ,, aaJql eqtgo,(uu qlrn\ eArT ol elquun sr eqs-r(uoru-rerlsp pluetuuonlue oruos tlqqxe saop utDpv a.to{ag w euo UIA\S et1l-rse,,perrsrl,SsrpBpu,eldoed,"r:Tj],"j:"^11:1"1':1'r":i;::Xpezrpuq,(q y 'lueuuoJr^ue ql1,n,(uoureqsp oslu sueo(u srql puEserlrlenb plueueredruel pue leluoru .pcrs.(qd ;o,(uouuuqsrp-,(uouruqsp s11eds ,(poruuoc uorluua8ecsrtu ,ueql .dn runs o;,(elsueg 99

Eugenics and Social Darwinism 37Works CitedAngenou, Marc, and Nadia Khouri. "An International Bibliography of PrehistoricFiction," Science-Fiction Studies Mar. 1981: 38-53.Grant, Madison. The Passing of the Great Race, or the Racial Bias of EuropeanHistory,4'h ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1923.Guyer, Michael F. Being Well-Born : An introduction to Heredity and Eugenics.Indianapolis : The B obbs-Merrill Company, 1 9 I 6.Kevles, Daniel J. In the Name of Eugenics: Eugenics and the Uses of HumanHeredity. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1985.Kuhl, Stefan. The Nazi Connection: Eugenics, American Racism, and GermanNational Socialism. New York: Oxford U P, 1994.London, Jack. Before Adam. Commemorative ed. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 2000.Shipman, Pat. The Evolution of Racism: Human Dffirences and the Use andAbuse of Science. New York, Simon and Schuster, 1994.Stableford, Brian. "Origins of Man." The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Ed.John Clute and PeterNicholls. New York: St. Martins, 1993.Waterloo, Stanley. The Story of Ab: A Tale from the Time of the Caveman. NewYork Doubleday, Doran an d Co , 1925 .25.1 October 2002:_;

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