Leslie Royston

Van Noy

11/15/99

The Savage Wilderness: A review of The Call of the Wild

Jack London's The Call of the Wild, takes a domestic dog named Buck through traumatic events of abuse, abandonment, lessons learned, love, and finally to his home in the wild.

London embarks on Buck's adventure at the home of Judge Miller, a kind owner who gives Buck a life of lazy days in the "sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley" (197). Buck is ripped out his safe life by Manuel, a gardener's helper from the home of the Millers. He was sold to a man in a red sweater who struck him with a club repeatedly. Then, he was bought by two men named Francois and Perrault. They gave Buck his first experience with sled pulling, which he continued to experience throughout the book. The next owner of Buck was a man who drove him and his other teammates from tired to exhausted. Hal, Charles, and Mercedes, who had no experience with driving dogs, were Buck's second to last owners. Buck's final owner was John Thornton, a man who caught frostbite during an adventure to find gold. Thornton saved Buck's life by stopping Hal from beating him to death.

This is where love began and "the call" stirred. Buck never left Thornton's side in fear that his new owner would leave him, like all his other masters had. Buck then felt something that he had never felt before, "the call of the wild". This was not strange to him; it was like an instinct. London takes Buck and personifies him as a human being with thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Buck was a large dog, a mix of St. Bernard and Scotch shepherd. (In the beginning, London expresses that Buck is friendly dog who is trusting of men until he is taken from Judge Miller where, he learns that he must do what he is taught.) Eventually, Buck learns to love his work, and when he is in the hands of Thornton he is wild, but he knows that he is safe. Buck turns into a different animal by the end of the book. He is not domestic, he is wild, running with wolves and learning to kill, as well as to love.

London teaches many lessons about the wild to Buck. London's first lesson is that of obedience. Buck learned that the club ruled, and that whoever had the club was the master. The second lesson that London taught Buck was that of survival. When Buck arrived in the cold, he was not pampered. He looked to see what the experienced dogs did. Buck learned that to survive, he must dig a hole for himself to keep from freezing at night. The third lesson that London taught Buck was instinct. He learned that when his feet got cold and ice formed between his toes, he had to chew the ice out. The fourth lesson that London taught Buck was that he should evade his enemies until there could be no more avoiding them. This avoidance occurred when Spitz ( a rival dog) occupied Buck's sleeping hole. The war with Spitz did not end until Buck killed him. The final lesson that London taught Buck was that of love. Buck fell deeply in love with Thornton, and when he was killed, the wild was brought out in Buck.

The most descriptive aspect of the book was the final pages of chapter 7, entitled "The Sounding of the Call". Here London paints a picture of Buck, who now looks stormy with wilderness, sensing his instincts. He goes to the forest to find his wolf brother, runs, and frolics with him as most wild animals do. Then he senses his domestic side and the love for Thornton. He returns to a camp that is filled with carnage. London expresses that his savage blood trickles, and then explodes into rage as he kills the Yeehats ( a tribe that murdered Thornton). London tells how Buck finds his true calling, "the call of the wild", as he enters the wolf pack. The Yeehats realize that the wolves change; they look similar to dogs. The sentimental aspect of the book comes out in the last two pages when London tells the reader that no one enters the valley where the Yeehats were killed. Every summer, like the one when Thornton was murdered, a Ghost Dog with distinctive markings comes to the ground "and here he muses for a time, howling once, long and mournfully, ere he departs" (278).

Jack London's The Call of the Wild is a story of an ordinary dog placed in extraordinary situations. He covers lessons, love, and the need to return home. Overall, an imaginative book with imagery that makes you feel the crisp wind and the heartache of lost love.