"One of my motifs, in this book, was an attack on individualism (in the person of the hero). I must have bungled, for not a single reviewer has discovered it." - in a note by Jack London to Upton Sinclair.
Ruth rejects Martin Eden in a letter saying, "if only you had settled down ... and attempted to make something of yourself." This of course is the breaking point for him. After all he made something of himself according to his philosophy. However, he is everything but what the society expects of him. This of course, changes when the wind of fame is under his wings.
