Call Of The Wild, By Jack London Essay, Research Paper

Throughout the novel The Call of the Wild, we follow a dog named Buck

through his journey through the Klondike. We experience a

transformation in him, as he adapts to the cold, harsh land where he is

forced to toil in the snow, just to help men find a shiny metal. Buck

seems to almost transform into a different dog by the end of the book.

In this essay, I will go over what Buck was like, how and why he was

forced to adapt to his new environment, and what he changed into.

When we first met up with Buck, he lived in the Santa Clara Valley, on

Judge Miller?s property. He was the ruler of his domain, uncontested by

any other local dogs. he was a mix between a St. Bernard and a Scotch

Shepherd dog. He weighed one hundred and forty pounds, and he carried

every one with utmost pride. Buck had everything he could want. Little

did he know, he would soon have it all taken away from him. One night,

while the judge was away at a raisin grower?s committee meeting, the

gardener, Manuel, took Buck away from his home. Buck was then sold, and

thrown in a baggage car. This would be the beginning of a new, cruel

life for Buck. On his ride to wherever he was going, Buck?s pride was

severely damaged, if not completely wiped out by men who used tools to

restrain him. No matter how many times Buck tried to lunge, he would

just be choked into submission at the end. When Buck arrived at his

destination, there was snow everywhere, not to mention the masses of

Husky and wolf dogs. Buck was thrown into a pen with a man who had a

club. This is where Buck would learn one of the two most important laws

that a dog could know in the Klondike. The law of club is quite simple,

if there is a man with a club, a dog would be better off not to

challenge that man. Buck learned this law after he was beaten half to

death by the man who had the club. no matter what he tried, he just

couldn’t win.

Buck was sold off to a man who put him in a harness connected to many

other dogs. Buck was bad at first, but eventually, he learned the way of

trace and trail. Buck had to learn many things if he was to survive in

this frigid land. He had to learn to sleep under the snow, and to eat

his food as fast as possible so as not to have it stolen. At about this

point in the book, we see Buck start to go through a metamorphosis of

sorts. He transforms from a house dog to a more primitive, savage

version of his former self. It was as if hundreds of years of knowledge,

learned by his ancestors, were dug up and brought out. Buck proceeded to

lose all the fat in his body and replace it with muscle. Buck was no

longer Judge Miller?s pet. He was a machine of survival and triumph.

Most Southland dogs like him ended up dead because of their inability to

conform. Buck was born to lead the team, but one dog would do everything

possible to try and keep him down. This dog?s name was Spitz. Spitz was

a white wolf dog who was a proven champion in confrontation and was as

crafty as they come. It was clear that he and Buck would not work well

together. When dogs have confrontation in the Klondike, only one

survives. This was because of a law called fang. The law of Fang is such

that, when two dogs fight and one is knocked to the ground, that is it.

The rest of the spectators will instantly pounce on the downed dog and

make quick work of it.

All of these unspoken rules had turned Buck into the Best dog to ever

roam the Klondike. Buck did eventually fight Spitz and send him to his

death. After all of the transformations and cruelty he had been through,

you would think that Buck would never be able to trust another human. He

was being starved to death by a gold seeking group who had not brought

enough food for the dogs. When Buck could finally not move another step,

a man from the group started to beat Buck. As the blows grew less and

less painful, and he was fading farther and farther, Buck knew he was

dying. While Buck was being beaten, a man named John Thornton came forth

and took Buck from his attacker. The man nursed Buck back to health, and

from that day forward, Buck lived for that man. Buck loved him with all

his being.

After being with this man for quite some time, Buck started to hear a

call from far away. He started paying more and more attention to this

call. He went out for days at a time searching for it?s source. This

call was the call of the wild. He had a will to go off and be with other

dogs. He felt the urge to be free from man and catch his own food. One

day, Buck finally left for good. He was excepted by a pack of wolves who

treated him like a wolf himself. And so the transformation was complete.

Buck had changed from a dog, to a beast of nature.

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