The Call of the Wild: Buck learns to adapt. “Adaptability is being able to adjust to any situation at any given time”, said John Wooden . A theme for Jack London's “The Call of the Wild” is adaptability is essential for survival. At the beginning of the book Buck realizes he has to adapt to the North. First, Buck learns how to survive from people.
In the novel of the Call of the Wild, Buck tried to adapt to his new and difficult life. He was forced to help the men find gold; he experienced a big transformation in him. At the end, he transformed into a new and different dog. Buck went through physical, mental and environmental changes. In my essay, I talked about how Buck was like at the beginning, what he changed into, and how he was forced to adapt his new environment, and underwent these changes.
Also, when the narrator says, “Though his dignity was sorely hurt by thus being made a draught animal, he was too wise to rebel”, he means that he is not in “sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley” to make people do things anymore and he is not alpha anymore. Buck shows a growth mindset when he understands that he cannot do much in the area which he is in and he will not be alpha
London carried with a ease and sureness of perception that appeared also to be “without effort of discovery”- through the ages of fire and roof to the beginnings of animal creation. The theory of racial instinct, that was at the start, through long axons, a very conscious and alert process behavior indeed. This theory, as developed by such figures as Samuel Belter, Bergson or Jung, Similarly, the scene in which Buck finally disposed Spitz as the leader of the team surrounded by the ring of huskies waiting to kill and eat the vanquished king. He was a perfect instance of the ‘son-horde’ theory which Frazer traced in The Golden Bough, and of that primitive ritual to which Freud himself attributed both a sense of original sin and the fundamental
Buck’s great genes and extensive training have allowed him to become more agile than any foe he is pitted against. So when Jack London is talking about Buck fighting a pack of wolves he say “he was everywhere at once” meaning that buck is so quick to strike that there is nowhere that the wolves aren’t vulnerable. The inclusion of this hyperbole gives us a sense of how Buck has evolved from a simple house dog to a wild killer of great strength.
For once Buck learns to adjust, “his development was rapid.” Experience is his teacher, like, Sister Carrie’s or Stephen Crane’s Maggie. But his morality was not questioned by the reader because Buck is a dog. London chooses to ignore the moral implications of Buck’s thievery. For Buck’s “new” way of life was new to him only momentarily, London closes out Buck’s discourse on the law of club and fang. He comments on Buck’s strange awareness of memories of a previous life his ancestors had lived precisely as he has to live in his struggle for survival. The culture of generations of civilizations fell from Scruff Mackenzie, the same process occurs through Buck’s atavism.
Many individuals are able to succeed because they are willing to fight for what they want. Doing this they are shoulding perseverance. Perseverance in other words means to not give up. The novel “Call of the Wild” Buck shows perseverance by not giving up his leadership throughout the book when he got his new owners and new sled dog teammates. Even though he had to fight to keep his leadership, Buck never lost the leadership.
At this point Buck had gained the attention of humans too. Everybody in the Eldorado Saloon wanted him. After Buck earned John 1,600 dollars by pulling a 1,000 pound sled a man made a bunch of offers to John for him, John rejected them all and said Buck was not for sale. “I’ll give you a thousand for him, sir, a thousand, sir, twelve hundred, sir” (London 88).In this quote Buck wasn’t struggling for mastery, but the man in the saloon were struggling to be the master of Buck. In conclusion Buck has always struggled for mastery no matter where he went.
Something totally different has changed in buck life from being a house dog to a sled dog. From living in a big house to carrying a sled. He had it pretty rough. Buck may be happier knowing that he has someone to care for him and a pack that protects each other. This is why I think Buck is better off as a sled dog than a house dog.
In The Call of the Wild the author, Jack London, describes Buck as “king over all… things”. The narrator refers to him in this way to show the dominance and superiority Buck has in the area he lives in. In multiple lines, he is reported to have done many things from hunting to guarding children. It is also said that he lived a life full of power as evident from this line: “…he had lived the life of a stated aristocrat…”. Although Buck is not really a king, he still has the traits of being a king, thus the reason he is referred to as one.
In the novel, The Call Of The Wild, by Jack London, Buck is a domesticated dog adapting and trying to survive in the wild. The topic in this novel is perseverance since the author constantly provides many hints throughout the novel that proves that the topic in this novel is perseverance. It can be seen during the time Buck perseveres in trying to adapt to his situation and understanding his surroundings. Also, when he preservers through all the pain and suffering that is constantly leaking around him and Buck is sometimes rewarded for persevering through the hardships that follow day by day. Thus the theme in the book is in order to be rewarded, one must persevere.
Buck is being called into the wild. His life events changed who he was and sent him free in spirit and body. Once Thornton was kill Buck was able to be free and just be a wild dog with the others (napierkowski). In my opinion, this book shouldn’t have been in the category of banned and challenged books.
What about animals such as Buck and what about their treatment? You may ask, “who is Buck?” Buck is a dog, from the book The Call of the Wild, that undertook a great mission to rebel against an animal that treated him unfairly. That animal is called Spitz. Spitz is a pack leader and he bullied Buck very much.
Call Of the Wild is a short adventure novel and set in Yukon, Canada during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named Buck. The story opens at a ranch in the Santa Clara Valley of California when Buck is stolen from his home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska. He progressively reverts to a wild state in the harsh climate, where he is forced to fight to dominate other dogs. By the end, he sheds the veneer of civilization and relies on primordial instinct and learned experience to emerge as a leader in the wild.
Have you ever wanted to live in Alaska and travel all through the Yukon delivering mail, panning for gold, or go hunting for moose? In the adventure novel Call of the Wild by Jack London, the main character Buck goes from pampered pup to wild beast, Buck travels around Alaska going from city to city, fighting to survive in the dangerous Yukon. Slowly throughout the book, Buck’s permeative instincts come out and isn’t like a house dog. He becomes tougher and learns how to hunt, dig holes in the snow to sleep in and learns to never get knocked down in the fight. All throughout the book, Buck slowly turns into a wild dog and lets his inner wolf come out, one way he does this is he digs a hole and learns that he 's not going to have a warm bed anymore.