Breana Thomas
Mrs. Kasprak
English 8G
4 January 2015
The Call of the Wild Essay
In Jack London’s novel,
The Call of the Wild
, Buck is distinguished by his ability to learn and adapt. He goes from being “the new kid on the block” to the head of the sled team, ousting another alpha dog on the way. He discovers that having to adapt to an unfamiliar, strange environment requires both physical and mental strength.
Buck is the beloved St. Bernard mix that belonged to Judge Miller in the hills of the
Santa Clara Valley in California. His mother was a great German Shepherd mix while his dad,
Elmo, was a huge Saint Bernard.
To begin,
Judge Miller owns a huge mansion complex with other dogs, horses, stables, and vineyards.
Buck loves this life, carrying the Judge's grandchildren on his back and serving as the Judge's faithful companion, as his father had been before him. However, one summer day in 1897, the Judge's gardener sells him for a low price.
Throughout the novel, Buck proves that he is fit and can survive the law of the club, the law of the fang, and the laws of nature
. The law of the club is mans’ empowerment over Buck and his inability to overpower them. Buck discovers that he can survive the law of the club because he learns not to attack men when they have a weapon, for they are stronger than him. After Bucks’ encounter with the Man in the Red Sweater, “he was beaten (he knew that); but he was not broken. He saw, once for all, that he stood no chance against a man with a club. He had learned the lesson, and in all his after life he never forgot it” (London 28).
The law of the fang is a
reference to Bucks’ needed adaptation to the other sled dogs and change from his pampered living to a sled dog. Finally is the law of nature, which Buck learns throughout the entire novel, as soon as he becomes a sled dog. Buck becomes a good sled dog, working as part of the team with all the other undomesticated dogs.
As a result,
Buck figures out how to protect himself from the miserable cold by burrowing under the snow, and how to find food, stealing if necessary from the other dogs to keep strong. He must always be alert, for there are dangers everywhere in the environment. If someone tries to steal his food, he attacks, for he knows he must keep himself healthy and lean.
From this moment, Buck's most dangerous enemy is Spitz, a dog who has arrived with Buck for the new adventures. Once, Spitz tried to steal his food, but “as Buck sprang to punish him, the lash of François’s whip sang through the air, reaching the culprit first; and nothing remained to Buck but to recover his bone” (London 30).
Buck becomes a harder, stronger, and more cunning dog. He regresses to the basic nature of a dog. He learns to fend for himself in order to get food, and to fight, as well as kill, for his survival.
Next, Buck discovers that he enjoys being the leader of the pack. He also thinks he is the best dog for the job. Once he killed Spitz, Francois and Perrault didn’t even make Buck the leader of the sled team. Buck became enraged and pushed himself harder than ever to achieve the roll of being the leader.
“While Perrault packed the camp outfit and loaded the sled, the dogdriver proceeded to harness the dogs. Buck trotted up to the place Spitz would have occupied as leader; but Francois, not noticing him, brought Solleks to the coveted position. In his judgement, Solleks was the best leaddog left. Buck sprang upon Solleks
Every author has a different life story of how they became interested in becoming a writer and what made their writings become a success. Jack London is one author with an amazing story of how he became a successful writer. There are specific things that helped him become a writer and he himself influenced other people through his writings also. Jack London is a male author who started his life off in a rough situation. By 8th grade he had to drop out of school so that he could support his family…
The Call of the Wild “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London is a story about a sheltered dog, named Buck that went through a chain of transformations in his life. From the safe haven owned by Judge Miller and his family to the terrain of the untamed, natural jungle-Buck’s. His life changed when an employee at his first home stole him and sold him. While each owner of buck has an effect on him, there where three that played a major role in Buck's transformation. The three owners or groups…
master. He attacks the Indians, killing several and scaring the rest away. Buck then runs into the wild where he finds the leader of a pack of wolves. He becomes an idol dog, inspiring fear in the indians. But every year he returns to where his leader was killed. He is free to run in the wild, as long as he is a leader, but he still morns over the death of his leader. The Call of the Wild is a great work of literature. It is written in a style that at one point, is strong and meaningful…
Jayne Baumgarten Ms. Duby English February 25, 2013 Essay London uses each character to move Buck alone in his journey from civilized to wild. Judge Miller sets Buck’s standards of his surroundings, making him think of people in a good, innocent way. He raised Buck “at a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley” (5). He taught Buck how to be civilized which means following the rules and living in an orderly way. Buck never did anything bad because he was happy and didn’t want…
Qualities of a Hero Buck faces many challenges from the beginning of the story till the end. The novel The Call of the Wild by Jack London is and adventure book. This story takes place in the Yukon territory, When a dog named Buck gets kidnapped from his blissful life and sent into a full of hardship and misery. Throughout the whole story buck demonstrated his actions of trying to be the hero in the story. Buck showed that he was passionate many times throughout the story. For example, as burton…
In “Call of the Wild”, Jack London captures the story of Buck in a unique way. That is by letting readers go into the mind of the dog without seeming hokey. As well it gives a real adventure and look into the history of the Yukon. Although, The movie of this poignant, powerful, yet still remorse book is told completely different from the original story. Throughout the film, it is noticeable all the differences and similarities between the book and the movie. For instance, the perspective of both…
London was an American author, journalist and a social activist. he was born on January 12,1876 in san Francisco, California and died in 1916. attended university of California at Berkeley. by the age of 30 he was internationally famous for his "call of the wild" in 1903 and also "the sea wolf" in 1904 . he wrote more than 50 books , some of them were published after his death. his stories were about his personal adventures at sea in Alaska or in the fields and factories in California. Chris McCandles…
Melvin Richardson Professor Shana Smith English 112 (D22P) March 21, 2013 Machin Rifamos (The Rise of Brown America An argument essay by Melvin Richardson) “Resistance is futile” is a resounding statement first exclaimed by the alien race called the Borg in the Gene Roddenberry long running television series Star Trek. “Why do you resist? Asked the Borg commander, Ryker replies “I like my species the way it is”! Borg commander counters with, “We only wish to raise quality…
Alex Pearson Mr. Conrad Adv. Comp. 24 October 2012 What this essay is about... Rock and roll is a very influential, and powerful type of music that has changed over the years and has only gotten bigger and bigger. I will explore into how rock and roll affects the mind and what sort of behavior it causes. I'm assuming it causes more wild behavior and rebellion in people because that is the reputation it's had since the fifties and it still holds to this day. This isn't necessarily saying…
Essay-how civilised were the Romans. This essay is about if the Romans were civilised or not. Civilised means to have a good culture and education, to treat people with respect, being tolerant-not violent. It also means to have rules, help others, be clean, be organised and being polite. The Romans were civilised in war because of the following answers, when they fought they had superior equipment, they had been well trained by a professional, they took advantage of their terrain and they were…