The Synergy of Jack Wright and Technology Presentation by Khaled Kais and Isaac Pena

The Introduction John Ockerbloom notes that, Jack Wright and His Electric Air Rocket; or, The Boy Exile of Serbia was written by a man named Luis Senarens. The “original author” was an entity known as Noname. Miriam Rocek explains, “Noname” was a penname that Senarens took from Harry Cohen (also Harry Enton), which was passed down. In Miriam’s blog post, she states that Senarens was one of the most prolific writers of dime novels and was responsible for two major series: Jack Wright and Frank Reade Jr. As stated before, Jack Wright was part of a series (1890- 1902).

The Plot Simply put: Complexly put: Jack Wright and His Electric Air Rocket is about a boy, Ivan Janova, who meets Jack Wright. Ivan is thrown into peril and Jack Wright comes to his rescue! Complexly put: Ivan Janova is almost killed by his uncle, Peter Darinka. Jack Wright, inventor, saves him. Jack Wright’s drowns amidst Ivan thanking Jack but Ivan saves him. Jack feels indebted to Ivan and walks him to his house. Peter shoots both of them and takes Ivan back to Russia. Jack Wright uses his flying machine, with three helpers, to go to Russia and save Ivan from Peter, as well as look for a gold treasure. Along the way to Russia, Jack Wright saves a captain, fights bears, and eventually speaks to a Russian Czar. The Czar informs jack that Ivan was taken to prison because Darinka turned him in for Nihilism. Jack kidnaps Darinka and gets him to confess to his misdoings, using electro shocking. Peter confesses and is executed. Jack Wright saves Ivan and finds gold.

Roles, Relationships, and a Close Reading of Tech in Jack Wright. The novel is extremely technocentric, with Jack’s Electric Rocket, the central agent of technology, playing a big role in the story. Jack Wright is an inventor and creates various technological and scientific innovations throughout the novel. For example, Jack invents some “gas-making chemicals” (Senarens 6) that are used to lift the Rocket. Since Jack is the central character and everybody follows his lead, all characters have close relationships to technology. The close reading is that technology (Electric Rocket) is god-like. It is impenetrable, gigantic, in the sky, and a savior.

A Very Positive View Jack is the courageous man who has strong ties to technology. Technology makes it possible for Jack and his friends to get to Russia and save Ivan. Every time there is turmoil, the rocket saves Jack and his friends. Although there is one moment where technology is used to torture, it was still positive because the good guy was using it to punish the bad guy.

The Illustration “Title Page Image.”

Surprises and Themes The electro torture scene was very dark but accepted because it was Jack Wright being the torturer. The use of aluminum as impenetrable metal was very surprising to us…and funny. The flying machine being able to get an entire crew to Russia was pretty crazy. As stated before, the major theme of the story is technology. There are other themes but technology defines the dime novel and Jack Wright as a character.

Bibliography Ockerbloom, John M.. “Jack Wright and His Electric Air Rocket: or, The Boy Exile of Siberia.” The Online Books Page. University of Pennsylvania, n.d. Web. 3 April 2016. Rocek, Miriam. “Luis Senarens, Penny Dreadful Author from Brooklyn.” Web Blog Post. Beyond Victoriana. Beyond Victoriana, March 2010. Web. 8 April 2016. Senarens, Luis. Jack Wright and His Electric Air Rocket; or, The Boy Exile of Serbia. New York: Frank Tousey, 1894. HathiTrust Digital Library. Web. 3 April 2016. Senarens, Luis. “Title Page Image.” Jack Wright and His Electric Air Rocket; or, The Boy Exile of Serbia. New York: Frank Tousey, 1894. HathiTrust Digital Library. Web. 3 April 2016.