Alaska (novel) | Themes

Alaska (novel) Themes

Greed

One of the biggest factors underlying the development of Alaska is greed. The big migration to Alaska came in response to the gold rush. The lure of fabulous wealth enticed many people to put up with the harsh environment. Many of their stayed on in Alaska and some became active in other businesses, like Tom Venn, who opened a branch store of Ross and Raglan. This was the beginning of a vast business empire, as Tom married the daughter of Malcolm Ross. At first, Tom was motivated by survival but after his marriage, he was interested in the company profits. He supported cabotage and legislation which basically resulted in huge profits for Ross and Raglan but made shipping costs so high that many businesses were forced to close. The Venns also did not support Alaskan statehood because it would subject them to United...
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