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The stories in this collection include some of London’s finest South Seas tales. In them, Hawaii is portrayed, not as a tropical paradise, but as a land corrupted and despoiled by the arrival of the supposedly civilized white settlers. The tales include Koolau the Leper,
Good-by Jack, and The Sheriff of Kona, which deal frankly and sympathetically with the taboos of leprosy; Chun Ah Chun, the story of a Chinese man displaced by the unyielding encroachments of western ways of life; and The House of Pride and Aloha Oe, which criticize racial intolerance. While in Hawaii, Jack and Charmian spent a week living among the inhabitants of the leper colony on the island of Molokai. Their surprise at finding, not a cursed place of misery and horror, but a joyful, thriving community is evident in London’s essay. With compassion and high good humor, London records his impressions of the people and their activities, including shooting contests, band and choir concerts, and a fourth of July festival featuring antic donkey races. In Koolau the Leper , London describes Koolau, who is a Hawaiian leper-and thus a very different sort of superman than Martin Eden-and who fights off an entire cavalry troop to elude capture, as indomitable spiritually a … magnificent rebel . This character is based on Hawaiian leper Kaluaikoolau who revolted and resisted capture from forces of the Provisional Government of Hawaii in the Kalalau Valley in 1893.
