Quotes From The Call Of The Wild

“He had been suddenly jerked from the heart of civilization and flung into the heart of things primordial.” (London, 16). In the novel The Call of the Wild by Jack London, Buck, a Saint Bernard-Scotch Shepherd mix originates in sunny, civilized Santa Clara Valley, CA during the gold rush. He rules his demesne like a king, but sadly he is stolen by Manuel, a familiar gardener. Buck is brought to a dog breaker and seller, through him Buck meets Perrault and Francois. They take Buck to the Northland where he learns new survival skills and passes from master to master. Buck finally meets who he truly adores, John Thornton, he saves John’s life and follows his every command. They travel to the East and find gold, Buck is becoming a savage and the Yeehats kill John Thornton, in the

“ And when, on the long still, cold nights, he pointed his nose at a star and howled long and wolflike, it was his ancestors, dead and dust, pointing nose at star and howling down through centuries and through him.” (London 26). Like a wolf he’s sounded the call of the wild and broken the ages of domestication down to his primitive roots.

As he retrogressed his dreams became feral as well hazy at first until it became reality. “He was all but naked, a ragged and firescorched skin hanging part way down his back, but on his body there was much hair.” (London 50). Buck dreamt about this primordial caveman becoming more like him throughout the novel.

Buck’s inner wolf ate away his poor physique while the wild northland ate away his civilness and domestication. “Faithfulness and devotion, things born of fire and roof, were his; yet he retained his wildness and wiliness. He was a thing of the wild, come in from the wild to sit by John Thornton’s fire, rather than a dog of the soft Southland stamped with the marks of generations.” (London 76). Buck became a killer, hunting and running with the