Buck's Character Development In The Call Of The Wild

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Reading Notes and Analysis

Character Development

The Call of the Wild

Buck – Even though ‘The Call of the Wild’ is written in third person. The events that surround the story are portrayed to be on Buck’s experiences. Buck is the protagonist of the story. Buck is a Strong, courageous, intelligent German Shepard that is taken from his California home and sold into slavery as a sled dog during the Klondike gold rush at the end of the nineteenth century. Buck figures out how to make due in this brutal environment by listening to the voice inside him. All through the story, Buck is extremely eager and dead set to be the leader of the group. His aspiration causes strain in the middle of he and Spitz, the previous leader. Buck goes from the civil and respectful dog to the bloodthirsty dog by killing Spitz and enjoying it "Buck stood and looked on, the successful champion, the dominant primordial beast who had made his kill and found it good."(London, 22) The story discusses the relationship between domestic and primal instincts, but when Buck is taken and placed into the wild with other dogs something within him changes. The story proves that in order to survive moral nature must die which illustrates Buck’s change from the civilized dog to the primordial beast. …show more content…

Spitz is initially the leader of the pack, but soon changes after Buck’s hatred towards him. Buck hates Spitz because he is the one who took down his best friend Curly upon his arrival in the artic. The killing is what started the viscous rivalry between Spitz and Buck. Eventually Buck realized in order to be come leader he will have to out due him, which leads to the final fight between Spitz and Buck leaving Spitz with a broken leg and not able to fight back. The whole pack that he once bossed around devoured him into

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