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... ing Black Burton during a barroom brawl, and another time by pulling Thornton out of a series of dangerous rapids. In another act of devotion, Buck wins Thornton a $ 1, 600 bet by single-handedly pulling a thousand pounds on a sled. Thornton and his two partners, Hans and Pete, use the money to support an expedition to find a lost mine.
They finally find it and begin mining. Buck runs free through the forests as the men dig for gold, continually testing himself against the harsh environment. When Buck returns to camp and discovers that Yeehat Indians have surprised and killed his owner and the two other men, he loses his last connection to mankind and civilization and turns back to his wild nature. In a fury, he kills several of the Indians and becomes legendary among the Indians as a Ghost Dog and an evil spirit. Buck fights against and then joins a wolf pack and creates a superior strain of animal by mating with a wolf. The novel ends as Buck becomes totally absorbed into the natural world.
Buck fights his way to the top of the pack, becoming the leader of the sled-dog team after he conquers Spitz in a brutal fight. Despite his aggressively individualistic tendencies, Buck also realizes that the sled team can only function if all of the dogs work together. The main character is Buck, and the central theme of the novel is his evolution from a life of domesticated ease to survival in the harsh northern wild. For London, Buck represents the idea that within every human is a more primitive version of the individual that can emerge in life-threatening situations or periods of extreme stress. Buck symbolizes the Darwinian idea of survival of the fittest only the strongest and most adaptable will survive. This symbolism is carried further by Buck's exhibiting many human traits, including loyalty, love, and revenge.
From his first cruel master, the Man in the Red Sweater, he learns that a single dog is no match for a human with a club. It is a harsh and painful lesson, but it serves him well. Buck knows instinctively that the inept adventurers, Charles, Mercedes, and Hal, will meet with disaster: The wilderness will not forgive their mistakes. It is for this reason, among others, that he refuses to go with them after they reach Thornton's camp just before the trio drowns under the ice. From Thornton, Buck learns loyalty and love.
In return for rescuing him from Hal, Buck twice saves Thornton's life and exerts himself to pull a heavy sled. Yet however close man and dog become, Buck continues to be driven by the primitive urges the wilderness has awakened in him. The dog often longs to go free, but his bond to Thornton always brings him back. But when Thornton is killed and Buck has avenged his friend's death, he leaves his ties to humanity behind.
He joins a wolf pack and becomes its leader, a civilized animal that has answered the call of the wild. There are two people in the story who are the kindest to Buck. At the novel's beginning, Buck's master is gentle, kindly Judge Miller, who symbolizes the civilized world, where people live according to law and custom. After being stolen from the Miller home and suffering many abuses and hardships, Buck finally encounters John Thornton, an adventurer who also symbolizes the survival of the fittest. He shows great compassion for the dogs that work hard pulling sleds, but none for the stupidity of the three people who venture into the harsh north country with neither the necessary knowledge nor the patience to learn about the wilderness. Thornton shows Buck loyalty and admiration, which he demonstrates when Thornton is offered a thousand dollars for Buck but he refuses.
The men and women who neglect and abuse Buck are many. Black Burton is an evil-tempered, bully. When Thornton tries to stop him from tormenting a newcomer to the territory, Burton attacks him and Buck tears the man's throat open. All agree that the dog had sufficient cause to protect his master's life.
In contrast to Thornton, the Man in the Red Sweater is also a cruel figure, but his county teaches Buck an important lesson: a man with a club must be obeyed. This sadistic master never breaks Buck, but he learns how to survive under his domination. Less sadistic are the Frenchmen Perrault and Francois, who may be harsh, but Buck recognizes that they administer justice impartially and fairly, traits he can understand and respect. Likewise, Buck does not resent the Scotch Half-Breed. He may overwork the dogs, but he does so because of the many demands that are made on him.
Newcomers to the North Country are Charles, Mercedes, and Hal, who represent those least adapted for survival. They die because they fail to understand how to live in the wild. Unprepared to deal with the harsh conditions of the North Country, they deal with it by fighting with each other and lashing out at the animals. For instance, before they stumble upon Thornton's camp, they discover that they do not have enough food for the dogs. Lack of food causes the animals to grow weak, but instead of recognizing this and trying to help it, Mercedes insists on riding in the sled, increasing the dogs' burden. In the end, their incompetence leads them to travel over ice too thin to support their weight, causing them to drown in the freezing waters.
Dogs and men are fundamentally alike in the Klondike world of Jack London's The Call of the Wild: There was an important need to be always alert; this was because these dogs and men were not town dogs and men. They were savages, all of them, the only lathe knew was the law of club and fang. Dogs and men answer the call of their savage natures and their terrifying environment in a violent, bloody, and savage struggle for survival. The primitive fears and desires, which surface in, Buck the amazing dog, which the story revolves around. The Call of the Wild remains, curiously, a dog story made humanly understandable. It is a story of the changes that a dog undergoes in the development of a new lifestyle.
London sets up the relationships between dogs and humans with importance, and the reader picks up on that easy. His emphasis on this can help to account for the fascination the book has had for readers in the seventy-odd years since its begining in July, 1903. It can also explain the reason why the book, one of London's best, is worthy of continued attention. Bibliography:
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