Martin Eden Chapter XVII

In which Martin Eden is plunged into the furnace-like toil of hotel laundry work, where his body is taxed to the limits and his mind narrowed to the machine-like precision of iron and starch; the blazing heat and ceaseless labour smother his artistic yearnings beneath exhaustion and despair. Yet when the week's drudgery yields to the fleeting escapism of whiskey-soaked camaraderie, a fervent flicker of his former dreams and visions briefly rekindles, hinting at the man he still hopes to be.