Before the gold rush, Buck, a St. Bernard used to live in a plush, big house, going swimming, and going hunting with the Judge’s sons, but when he was stolen from his “family” and from his happiness he must adapt fast to the harsh environment. In this story, Buck changes from a domesticated animal into a fierce, primitive wolf, killing with no thought or regret but for blood. In the book The Call Of The Wild by Jack London, the theme is decivilization, three examples which proves this is, Buck stealing food from other dogs, Buck finding out that John Thornton is dead, and Buck killing the Yeehats. One example which supports the thesis was when he stole food from the other dogs. In the story the owners did not give enough food to the dogs “He didn’t rob openly, but stole secretly and cunningly, out of respect for club and fang.”(23). The quote states Buck was learning to steal, in his happy days he just had to beg for food but now Buck was becoming more wild. This was the first time he was going to his predatory instincts of the ancient wolf and he was adapting to the problems he faces. …show more content…
Buck lost everything that he wants and everything that he loves. “The last tie was broken. Man and the claims of man no longer bound him.”(23). The quote explains he was free from the chains of man and love. The last of the domestic animal was gone and only there was the fierce wolf. Then came the blood lusting to kill whoever had murdered John Thornton, his handler and his lover. John Thornton had meant everything to him, Thornton was the reason he came back from the forest each time. He felt the grief of losing his loved one who he could not live without. The original Buck was gone he was replaced by the mighty wolf, the alpha of a wolf
Ferocity, pandemonium, and adaptation, is something Buck experienced in his crazy life. In the short story Call of the wild, Jack London shows how Buck had to learn many new things to make living; his objective. Through Buck’s past experiences, London
The Call of the Wild, on the surface, is a story about Buck, a four- year old dog that is part Shepherd and part St. Bernard. More importantly, it is a naturalistic tale about the survival of the fittest in nature. Throughout the novel, Buck proves that he is fit and can endure the law of the club, the law of the fang, and the laws of nature.
After John Thornton dies and Buck’s only tie to humanity and civilization is severed, Buck proceeds to live out his days in a local wolf pack where he becomes the alpha. Here he becomes a legend to the locals and is forevermore known as the Ghost Dog because of ferocious actions presiding Thornton’s death. Throughout the novel, “The Call of the Wild” it is proven that adaptability is key to one’s survival in any harsh environment. Over the many years in Buck’s time after being kidnapped by Manuel, Buck demonstrated time and time again that being able to adapt to one’s surroundings is and essential to life. In the novel, it is conveyed through many different events and lessons that being able to become accustomed to a setting is key to
Here is one piece of evidence to support this claim. “And when, on the still, cold nights, he pointed his nose at a star and howled long and wolf like, it was his ancestors, dead and dust, pointing nose at star and howling down through the centuries and through him (London 26).” This quote explains the call that Buck is answering and showing how strong his instincts are. It also shows how wolf like Buck really is and how he is being called by his ancestors to come and be with them and run with them. In the book Buck does meet a wolf and Buck does run with him, but shortly realizes he needs to return to Thornton.
Beaten, neglected, and loved Buck dealt with all those things. In the story ‘’ The Call of the Wild ‘’, the central theme is how one treats animals can reflect on what kind of person they are.
Buck had to make a change of lifestyle or adapt to his new environment to survive. Buck threw out his morals for a kill or be killed mindset which unconstrained his potential. John Thornton appears to be an exclusion of this however, he represents loyalty and not morals. John Thornton did not change Buck back : "They did not see the terrible transformation which took place as soon as he was within the forest" (72). Once Buck is alone he goes back to his survival instincts.
He hears the howl of the wolves and inherently responds; he becomes increasingly restless and begins to wander into the forest. After the death of John Thornton, Buck answers the call of the wild and takes up the life of his ancestors. His devolution climaxes in his transformation into the leader of a wolf-pack. "Buck was wildly glad. He knew he was at last answering the call, running by the side of his wood brother toward the place from where they surely came
He had to learn to be a wild dog by watching the way other dogs survive. He also learned that he had to fight to stay alive. In the book Jack London wrote, “For the last time he rushed. The man struck the shrewd blow he had purposely withheld for so long, and Buck crumpled up and went down, knocked utterly senseless”.
Buck learns his place and the ways that these primitive dogs live which keeps him alive. He observes how these dogs live and he follows. However, it wasn’t only his fellow dogs that kept him alive, his own instincts start to arouse from its
The most obvious and important change in Buck’s life is when he is stolen from his house. In a way, when Buck is captured, he starts an entirely new life. His new life living wild is one that is polar opposite to his past life. “Chapter I, ‘Into the Primitive,’ describes the great dog’s kidnapping from Judge Miller’s pastoral ranch and his subsequent endurance of the first rites of his initiation—the beginning of the transformation that ultimately carries him deep into Nature’s heart of darkness” (Labor 119). Buck goes from a beautiful, massive house where he lived an entertaining life with his first family to surviving in the cold, vast wilderness while knowing absolutely no one. While living on the beautiful property, he was really close
Throughout the novella, Call of the Wild, by Jack London, Buck’s experiences go to show that cunningness is the single most important trait for surviving within the harsh realities of the perilous wilderness, where staying alive is the only imperative. Buck quickly learns that without utilizing sly tactics, not only will he be manipulated by others, but he will suffer greatly. When he notices that other dogs have been stealing his food under his nose, “he [watches] and [learns]...getting away with a whole chunk” (22). In the wilderness, every man is out for himself, and no primitive dog will exhibit mercy towards others if it is at the expense of their own well-being. In this case, Buck’s cunningness allows him to steal another dog’s food
Then he was sold to two people named Francois and Perrault. There were more dogs there so they could make a trail. Buck was changing more into a wolf then just a normal dog. He was so use to eating as much
At the beginning of the book, Buck must achieve survival, safety, and security at the start of his quest.First Buck learns survival.For example,the man in the red sweater beat Buck with a club teaching him the Law of Club, which is a man with a club must be obeyed. Since Buck learns this law, he can continue his quest because he’ll survive.”Second, Buck learns “Law of Fang”. For instance, Curly tried to befriend a strange dog, who attacked Curly and knocked him off his feet so that the pack could
In the beginning of the book Call of The Wild, buck has to learn how to survive, kill, and make friends in the wild. First, Buck learns the law of survival. For example, he has many challenges in his new life. Since he payed attention to what happened to curly, he stayed on his feet and survive. Second, buck begins to kill to survive. For instance, he is protecting John Thornton by killing other people and other thing since john Thornton saved bick once before, buck is repaying him. last, buck learns to make new friends in the wild as well. For example, he met a wolf in the forest that seemed scared or frightened by Buck
In the beginning of the book, Buck learns to survive against others. For example, he learns the law of the club from the man in the red suit, meaning that people with clubs are the superior in the situation and that if he does something wrong that one of the consequences is being beaten by the person with the club. Since he has chances of beaten if so he will adapt to being beat and will grow stronger after. Second, Buck learns how to survive at night. At night he would have died of freezing if he didn’t look for the other dogs that had mysteriously disappeared. By