The Call of the Wild by Jack London

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

The title of the book is 'The Call of the Wild' and was written by

Jack London in 1903. He was the son of an Irish-American astrologer

and his mother was Flora Wellman, the odd one out of a well to do

family. They lived a life of poverty in Pennsylvania. Jack read a lot

and at the age of fifteen left home and travelled around North America

as a tramp. On charges of vagrancy, he spent 30 days in prison. After

educating himself he managed to gain entry to a university, before

being caught up in the Klondike River Gold Rush in North Canada, 1896.

On his return he began to write, but he drank heavily and eventually

took his own life.

The Call of the Wild is a moving story of how a St. Bernard, Scotch

Shepherd cross breed dog called Buck escapes captivity to become the

proud leader of a wolf pack. Buck was born a privileged, dignified dog

with a loving family but was taken from his warm Southern Californian

home to be shipped to the cold recesses of Alaska during the 1890's

Gold Rush. After being mistreated by many owners he soon learns that

the only rule in this harsh environment is 'the law of club and fang'

which very much differed from the rules of a civilized society. After

he experiences a loss of one of his fellow dogs, he soon realizes that

he is not just fighting to prove himself but fighting for survival.

The Call of the Wild uses anthropomorphism which shows how much

animals can act and think exactly the same as humans. The sled team

Buck is part of all take on human roles, such as the leader, the quiet

timid one, the one who is desperate to fit in and the one desperate to

prove himsel...

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... alike

and that sometimes animals may be more civilized than the species with

the supposed 'higher intelligence.' However animals could also be much

more uncivilized than you could ever imagine. We can also learn that

societies can be formed in any group of animals; all you need is

someone to control how things are done. The dogs took on many human

roles and acted in some ways exactly the same as humans do in the same

role. The main character in the story, a cross breed called Buck

represents the quiet one who's only goal is to prove himself and

succeed in the inhospitable Alaskan environment. We may place

ourselves as humans, as the most important creatures on this planet,

but this book proves that there is really no greater species, we can

all act the same way and we all really have only one true goal.

Survival!!