Callwld2(A) Essay, Research Paper

Call of the Wild Character SketchBuck———————————————- Throughout the novel The Call of the Wild, we follow a dog named Buckthrough his journey through the Klondike. We experience atransformation in him, as he adapts to the cold, harsh land where he isforced to toil in the snow, just to help men find a shiny metal. Buckseems 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 wasforced 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, onJudge Miller s property. He was the ruler of his domain, uncontested byany other local dogs. he was a mix between a St. Bernard and a ScotchShepherd dog. He weighed one hundred and forty pounds, and he carriedevery one with utmost pride. Buck had everything he could want. Littledid 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, thegardener, Manuel, took Buck away from his home. Buck was then sold, andthrown in a baggage car. This would be the beginning of a new, cruellife for Buck. On his ride to wherever he was going, Buck s pride wasseverely damaged, if not completely wiped out by men who used tools torestrain him. No matter how many times Buck tried to lunge, he wouldjust be choked into submission at the end. When Buck arrived at hisdestination, there was snow everywhere, not to mention the masses ofHusky and wolf dogs. Buck was thrown into a pen with a man who had aclub. This is where Buck would learn one of the two most important lawsthat 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 tochallenge that man. Buck learned this law after he was beaten half todeath by the man who had the club. no matter what he tried, he justcouldn’t win. Buck was sold off to a man who put him in a harness connected to manyother dogs. Buck was bad at first, but eventually, he learned the way oftrace and trail. Buck had to learn many things if he was to survive inthis frigid land. He had to learn to sleep under the snow, and to eathis 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 ofsorts. He transforms from a house dog to a more primitive, savageversion 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 tolose all the fat in his body and replace it with muscle. Buck was nolonger Judge Miller s pet. He was a machine of survival and triumph.Most Southland dogs like him ended up dead because of their inability toconform. Buck was born to lead the team, but one dog would do everythingpossible to try and keep him down. This dog s name was Spitz. Spitz wasa white wolf dog who was a proven champion in confrontation and was ascrafty as they come. It was clear that he and Buck would not work welltogether. When dogs have confrontation in the Klondike, only onesurvives. This was because of a law called fang. The law of Fang is suchthat, 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 andmake quick work of it. All of these unspoken rules had turned Buck into the Best dog to everroam the Klondike. Buck did eventually fight Spitz and send him to hisdeath. After all of the transformations and cruelty he had been through,you would think that Buck would never be able to trust another human. Hewas being starved to death by a gold seeking group who had not broughtenough 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 andless painful, and he was fading farther and farther, Buck knew he wasdying. While Buck was being beaten, a man named John Thornton came forthand took Buck from his attacker. The man nursed Buck back to health, andfrom that day forward, Buck lived for that man. Buck loved him with allhis being. After being with this man for quite some time, Buck started to hear acall from far away. He started paying more and more attention to thiscall. He went out for days at a time searching for it s source. Thiscall was the call of the wild. He had a will to go off and be with otherdogs. He felt the urge to be free from man and catch his own food. Oneday, Buck finally left for good. He was excepted by a pack of wolves whotreated 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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