50 pages • 1 hour read
Will HobbsJason's Gold
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1999A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Jason Hawthorn
As the protagonist, Jason Hawthorn is the viewpoint character in the novel’s real-time scenes; only the historical interludes do not include this main character. Jason is 15, and his family consists of his two older brothers, Abraham and Ethan, whom he considered predictable and accommodating until he learns that they became stampeders. Jason’s parents are deceased; his mother passed away before he could remember her, and his father died four years before the novel’s start.
Hobbs reveals Jason’s backstory gradually in Part 1; his history clarifies his goals, purposes, and actions throughout the novel. At the time of the story (1897), child labor was not uncommon. Jason went to work in a fishing cannery at age 11 after his father’s death and has not attended school since, though he was a strong student and still enjoys books and learning. Earning only 10 cents an hour was difficult for him; harder still was the loss of his freedom to endless cannery shifts. Motivated to avoid monotonous wage labor, Jason set out to live on his own, determined to make it to the East Coast and stay away from Seattle for a year. He accepted odd jobs along the way, learning a variety of skills such as horse wrangling. He looked forward to his eventual homecoming when his brothers would be surprised by his success. Even in these backstory events, Jason shows ambition and independence; he is an archetypal protagonist for an adventure novel in this sense.
At the news of gold, Jason rushes to the Klondike, only momentarily delayed by a loss of funds. Along the journey, Jason shows resourcefulness (for example, he uses his skills as a horse wrangler to get work) and flexibility (when White Pass proves impossible to navigate, he sets out to conquer Chilkoot Pass). Jason is naive in some ways, however, and prideful and immature in others; for example, he believes that he will catch up with his brothers quickly and easily. He also shows inexperience regarding man’s potential for cruelty to each other, to the land, and to animals, as seen with his reactions to injured and abused pack animals and dogs.
Major change stirs in Jason with the moose attack, his solitude in Carmack’s cabin, and the arrival of Charlie. Jason’s injuries prompt a turning point in his impatience and immaturity; in choosing to stay the winter despite wanting so badly to press on to Dawson, he demonstrates caution and wisdom. Alone with his thoughts, he must reconcile what he perceives as defeat; no one is to blame but himself. Charlie’s arrival creates an opportunity for Jason to tend to someone else’s welfare, and he rises to the occasion, striving to get enough food for them both. By the end, he learns about The Dangerous Allure of Wealth and realizes that his brothers and acquaintances have more worth than any gold he might have found.
While his potential for maturity and growth is revealed early in the novel and paves the way for his character arc toward change, wisdom, and acceptance, some aspects of Jason’s character do not change, such as his honor and kindness; for example, he turns down Captain Smith’s and Kid Barker’s offer of employment upon realizing that they are con artists. Despite these stable traits, he is a dynamic, round character who comes of age as a result of his experiences.
Frank “Kid” Barker
Jason thinks that Kid Barker is about 17. He works for “Captain” William Randolph (“Soapy”) Smith, a con artist, gangster, and outlaw. Kid discovers that Jason is a stowaway on the Yakima but welcomes Jason to dinners with Smith and his entourage, whom Kid calls “the future business leaders of Skagway” (29). Kid cons a kind couple out of their savings, and when Jason then refuses to go into that kind of business with Kid and Captain, Kid threatens him. When crew members put Jason off the ship at the next port (Juneau), beat him, and steal his only money, he knows that Kid instructed them to do so.
Later, Jason notices Kid at a telegraph office built hastily in Skagway; prospectors pay for telegraphs to be sent and to collect telegraphs sent to them, but at least one man notices that no wires are coming in or out of the building. Kid has this man apprehended by henchmen. His character therefore highlights The Exploitative Nature of Greed. Jason is not surprised by Kid’s criminal and unethical acts. Later, Jason is glad to hear that Kid will go to trial for his crimes. Kid is a static character who also serves as a foil to Jason, in that Jason’s kindness and moral behavior stand out in contrast to Kid’s elicit and avaricious actions.
Jack London
Jack is a red-headed, friendly, and generous young man when Jason meets him in Juneau. They commune about their various traveling adventures, and Jack welcomes Jason along on his prearranged canoe trip up to Dyea with his brother-in-law, Captain Shepherd. In this instance and subsequent meetings with Jason, Jack demonstrates kindness, compassion, and concern for Jason’s well-being. He provides Jason with Shepherd’s outfit when the older man goes home and asks for nothing but a book in return. Jack is different from many stampeders in that he lives each moment for the journey itself; he is elated to helm the boats through the canyon, for example, and always offers strangers supplies and companionship. In fact, his generosity drives others in his traveling party like Sloper to feel anger and resentment toward him during the long winter, causing Jack to leave the group. He also can see and appreciate the darkly humorous irony of having made it to the goldfields of the Klondike only to find just a tiny amount of gold dust—not even enough for passage home.
Far from despairing, though, Jack decides to put his adventures to effective use in telling stories to others as a writer. He comes to symbolize the intrepid, adventurous spirit that some shared when experiencing and appreciating the cold North, and he represents a desire to communicate its imagery to distant audiences. Since he decides to return home and convey newfound wisdom based on his observations, Jack is a dynamic character.
Jamie Dunavant
Jamie is 14 when Jason meets her in Skagway after his failed venture on White Pass. Stricken with food poisoning, Jason loses consciousness in the street, and when he wakes, Jamie and her father, Homer, a poet, are tending to him. Jason notices her dark hair and fetching appearance; he enjoys her confidence and spirit as well. Jamie and Homer, as Canadians, hope to navigate the journey to the Klondike on a lighter load of supplies than is required by the authorities, assuming that their citizenship status will buy them some leeway; they also plan to hunt game as needed to sustain them. Jamie’s personality makes an impression on Jason, and during the long, cold winter he often thinks of her, wondering if she and Homer were able to get to Dawson City.
Later in the novel, Jason discovers that Jamie performs her father’s poems aloud in the theatre in Dawson to crowds that love her. In one of the story’s many ironies, by the time she and Jason reacquaint, she must leave for a pre-arranged poetry show tour of the US with her father. She promises to return, and the novel concludes on this hopeful note for Jason. As one of the only female characters mentioned in the story and the only one developed in any detail, Jamie stands for the relatively limited role of women explorers in the gold rush; she also symbolizes the strength, determination, and resourcefulness of women in male-dominated situations. Jamie is a static character in that her personality and traits remain consistent.
Charlie Maguire
Charlie Maguire is only an adolescent when he enters the action (Jason thinks that he looks about 12), but he must mature quickly in difficult circumstances. Jason is shocked to realize that when Charlie’s uncle and cohorts bring the boy into the cabin unexpectedly, they intend to amputate his foot and lower leg. Charlie’s plight conveys the dangers of the North; after stepping through the ice and soaking his foot, Charlie neglected to dry his boot and sock, which resulted in frostbite and gangrene. Charlie’s trauma reminds Jason that only a minor misstep in the extreme environment can cost a person their life. A high fever follows Charlie’s makeshift surgery. Once the fever breaks, Charlie is only temporarily overwrought by his circumstances and soon insists on helping at the cabin, demonstrating that he is tenacious and courageous. He has a sense of humor, as exemplified by his penchant for knock-knock jokes, and as Jason tells him after hearing his tale about Henderson and Carmack, he has a talent for storytelling.
Charlie speaks and behaves in ways that suggest that he is wiser than his years; for example, even though Jason tries to keep the truth from Charlie about both their dwindling food supply and his uncle’s abandonment of him, Charlie concludes both of these truths. He takes the initiative to climb the cache tree to check on the food himself, and when he asks Jason about his uncle’s actions, it is evident that he intuited the man’s decision. Charlie is a round, dynamic character in the novel; he is weak and helpless initially due to his injury, but he rallies in spirit and health, contributing to their survival through the winter. Jason comes to rely on and appreciate Charlie’s friendship. Charlie’s departure for Chicago after a brief stay in Dawson City symbolizes the changing times and circumstances; for Jason, Charlie represents an opportunity to accept change.
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