# Loyalty and Betrayal in Lost Face

> Theme guide for Lost Face by Jack London.

Trust between companions is tested and often broken, as illustrated by the narrator's bitter disillusionment with Stephen Mackaye in 'That Spot,' and the complex relationships among miners, traders, and natives.

## Where it surfaces

- [Trust](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lost_face_se/chapters/trust): Churchill's unwavering commitment to delivering the gripsack contrasts with the anticlimactic revelation of its trivial contents, highlighting the tension between loyalty and the potential for betrayal of trust.
- [That Spot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lost_face_se/chapters/that-spot): The narrator feels betrayed by Stephen Mackaye for leaving him with Spot, while Spot's relentless loyalty to the narrator is portrayed as a curse.
- [Flush of Gold](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lost_face_se/chapters/flush-of-gold): Marie's fickleness and her flight from Dave Walsh with the Russian count highlight themes of betrayal, while her later constancy to a dead man shows a twisted form of loyalty.
- [The Wit of Porportuk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lost_face_se/chapters/the-wit-of-porportuk): El-Soo's loyalty to Akoon contrasts with Porportuk's possessive claim, and the council's judgment betrays her autonomy.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lost_face_se/themes/loyalty_and_betrayal
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/lost_face_se/themes