ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that tramp autobiographies, such as The Road by Jack London, romanticized the condition of homelessness; as a result, the cultural work they did was detrimental. It attempts to demonstrate how homeless individuals can be depicted as constitutive members of society rather than as either individualistic, romantic heroes or destitute victims. Not only did tramp autobiographies refrain from showing their heros working, but they also generally failed to show them working with others. The interdependence can be seen in the efforts of the tramps to make their writing seem “literary”; at the same time, professional writers and intellectuals went into the slums and on the road for inspiration and material. The chapter describes how London’s optimism fits into the overall pattern of tramp autobiographies. One way that tramp autobiographies romanticized homelessness was by representing the author as an intellectual, usually an observer of other tramps and the tramp lifestyle.
