Call of the Wild Essay

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The second way Buck adapts is by other dogs. One occasion of this is by learning the law of the fang from Curly (poor poor Curly). “So that was the way. No fair play. Once down, that was the end of you. Well, he would see to it that he never went down”(16). This quotation is at the beginning of chapter II. The death of Curly is an important symbolic moment in the novel. In the previous chapter, the man with the club stood for the savage relationship between humans and their dogs. Curly’s fate here shows that this savagery also exists among the dogs themselves in the wild North. Cruelty and violence replace friendliness and peaceful coexistence, and any animal that cannot stand up for itself will be killed mercilessly. “So that was the way,” Buck realizes. “No fair play.” Fair play is the law of civilization, in the wilderness, the only law is the “law of club and fang.” Curly’s death symbolizes the transition to this new, harsher law of life. Another moment of Buck learning from another dog“He had lessoned from Spitz, and from the chief fighting dogs… He must master or be mastered; while to show mercy was a weakness… It was misunderstood for fear, and such misunderstandings made for death.”(81). Buck remains merciless, for one thing, holding on to the lessons that he learned from Curly’s death and from his war with Spitz—namely, that “he must master or be mastered.” His love for Thornton coexists with his knowledge that “kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, was the law.” His ability to still feel love is significant.

Third way buck adapts to survive is by adapting to The Yukon valley. One way of this is he adapted to his surroundings by, “He learned to bite the ice out with his teeth when it collected between his toes; and when he was thirsty and there was a thick scum of ice over the water hole, he would break it by rearing and striking it with stiff fore legs. His most conspicuous trait was an ability to scent the wind and forecast it a night in advance”(25). This show that he is learning to adapt to his surrounding and learning new tricks and relearning old ones. The next way buck adapts to The Yukon is remembering his ancestors (Ok stick with me). They are already part of his deep animal memory. Buck may be a creature reared in the comfort of the sunny Santa Clara Valley, a domestic pet and a descendant of domestic pets, but his species roamed wild long before men tamed it. As the novel progresses, Buck taps into this ancestral memory and uncovers hidden primal instincts for competition and survival “In vague ways... the youth of the breed, to the time the wild dogs ranged in packs through the primeval forest and killed their meat as they ran it down…They came to him without effort or discovery, as though they had been his always”(25). London suggests that primitive instincts do not die in the civilized world; rather, they go into a kind of hibernation. Such a reawakening of instincts certainly occurs in dogs, but the novel suggests that it also occurs in men. Given the right circumstances, any being can return, like Buck, to the primitive, instinctual life of his ancestors. The last way that buck adapts to the yukon is by joining it (or join the wolf pack). “The wolf pack had at last crossed over from the land of streams and timber and invaded Buck's valley. Into the clearing where the moonlight streamed, they poured in a silvery flood; and in the center of the clearing stood Buck, motionless as a statue, waiting their coming. they were awed, so still and large he stood, and a moment's pause fell, till the boldest one leaped straight for him. Like a flash Buck struck, breaking the neck… Three others tried it in sharp succession; and one after the other they drew back, streaming blood from slashed throats or shoulders… And so well did he face it, that at the end of half an hour the wolves drew back discomfited… Some were lying down with heads raised and ears pricked forward; others stood on their feet, watching him; and still others were lapping water from the pool. One wolf, long and lean and gray, advanced cautiously, in a friendly manner, and Buck recognized the wild brother with whom he had run for a night and a day.”(116) He hears the call of the wolf again. His ties to Thornton broken by death, he heads off to follow it. He finds the pack, and one wolf lunges for his throat, but he breaks its neck easily. Three others try but pull back. After half an hour they all draw back, and one of them approaches Buck in a friendly manner. Buck recognizes him to be the wolf he encountered in the woods. Buck joins the wolfpack, and the Yeehats notice a difference in the local breed of timber wolves as years pass

Overall Buck must adapt to survive the harsh life of the yukon in dogs, human, and the environment itself. Buck is the embodiment of us the message is change is a good thing by adapting to new things like school, house, friends. You are just like buck in this instance everyone will go through