The Call Of The Wild By Jack London

Student Name Professor Name Course Date Call of the Wild Research Question: What kinds of sacrifices Buck has to do in order to be able to adapt to an entirely new lifestyle and code of conduct to ensure his survival? Published in 1903, The Call of the Wild is Jack London’s famous adventure novel. It is set in the 1890s, in Canada, when the demand for strong sled dogs was at its peak. The main character of this story is a dog named Buck. In the first half of this short novel, we can find Buck being stolen from California from its own home (Benoit 246). The dog is then sold in Alaska, where it is forced to survive in harsh environments. The core theme of this story is the struggle between the wild and civilization. The Call of the Wild traces the transformation of an animal from a pet to a wild dog. Though the hero of this story is Buck, other important characters are Spitz, Perault, Francois, Hal, Mercedes, Charles, and John Thornton. All of them contribute to the story and take it further while keeping the reader engaged. In the meantime, some of them become a reason for Buck’s problems. For example, Spitz is the malevolent head of the pack, who attacks Buck once a while. He gets to know that Buck is quite healthy, fit and active, and he wants it to become the leader of the group of dogs. Spitz is respected for his intelligence and ferocity, but Buck’s superiority is conceded by the masters when it challenges Spitz to fight to the death. In this particular competition, the dog becomes the winner and receives a lot of appreciations. The role of Perault in Buck’s life cannot be ignored. He is the dog’s first Yukon master. As a fair person, Perault acknowledges the supremacy of Buck among other animals. He, along with the dog, drives hard and makes the group of dogs an extension of his will. Another person who treats Buck rudely is Hal. He is always into ignoring the advice of experienced Yukon travelers and whips the dogs into a place of exhaustion. When they wake up, Hal opens fire on them. He creates a lot of problems for Buck, who refused to respond to any of the whips, and only the intervention of John Thornton saves the dog. Mercedes, on the other hand, is Hal’s sister who loves taking unnecessary things that could weight down the sled. Sometimes she feeds the dogs too much, and this is how her insistence and passiveness contribute to the problems of Buck. In one way or the other, Buck is forced to adapt to a new lifestyle and code of conduct in order to ensure its survival. It has to forget about the past and give up its trusting nature and life of happiness or leisure. As the leader of the group of dogs, Buck has the most responsibilities, and it is always challenged by its masters. Sometimes the dog is kept in isolation for long, and the other time, it is given physical punishment in order to enable the dog to become stronger. With time, Buck learns the law of the club and fang; it means the dog realizes that those who have great physical strengths are better able to survive than those who do not have physical and mental strengths. As a dog, it may not be possible for Buck to become as wise and sensible as its masters (human beings) are. However, it can still develop physical strength in order to be able to co...