“Call of the wild” Thematic Essay
Jack London’s story “The Call of The Wild with connections” takes place in Yukon Territory – which is a place in Canada where it is always snowing. The main conflict of this story is Buck against his instincts, he wasn’t able to answer “the call of the wild”. Buck is not that big in the beginning he is only 140lb and he still has time to progress as a growing dog. One main lesson that the story suggests is to never give up no matter what your going through.
Early in the story the call of the wild shows that Buck is put in a position where it looks like he doesn’t have a chance anymore. Buck was being bullied by two men (named François and Perrault) because they came searching for heavy dogs. The men strangled Buck with a rope. Buck did not like being choked so he tried to fight the men off. This detail shows that Buck will not give up no matter if he’s outnumbered. They also beat Buck with a club to make him stop fighting back. But Buck didn’t give up easy he kept getting back up and fighting, after about a dozen blows Buck finally backed down. The two men knocked Buck unconscious, then they put a big sheet over Buck and put him in the back of their car. When Buck woke up he sprang into action and tried to fight the men. He bit one guys hand and made him bleed a lot. But they started to beat him again till he gave up. This line also shows that Buck will not give up easy and is very tough.
By the middle of the story the reader begins to see that Buck does not give up and won’t back down without a fight. Buck is a very tough dog for a dog of his size, he is only about 140 pounds so he is still growing and will get bigger and stronger. First the two men strangled Buck then they beat Buck with a club so he would not get back up. With their urgency for heavy dogs, Francois and Perrault did not care for Buck’s health. They just wanted to take Buck and sell him for some “good money” that they knew they were going to get for Buck.
At the end of the story Buck is at Dyea Beach and is taught to embrace his instincts what they call his “call of the wild.” Francois makes Buck obey and he taught Buck not to fight back or he will be punished very badly so he doesn’t try it anymore. Some dogs didn’t like Buck especially Spitz he hated Buck. Spitz and Buck had a rivalry that lasted a long time. This shows that Buck will not give up and he won’t back down from his battles. Fight after fight Buck and Spitz would go back and forth for the top dog position. At the end of all this fighting Buck came out on top and beat Spitz for the top spot. Buck and Spitz hatred become so bad that Buck ended up killing Spitz. After Spitz was out of the picture Buck became a sled dog with all the other dogs. Buck had come so far along they even made him the leader of all the sled dogs because he had amazing heart.
Buck is a very tough dog, he will not back down and he will fight all of his own Battles. It could be said that Buck is more of a fighter than a dog who is good and obeys. While this is a good point Buck is definitely a fighter but he is also a good dog. He obeyed the men even though he was stolen from his owner. It was like he forgot everything about judge miller place and wanted to be a sled down his whole life. But Buck didn’t give up and fought through it and became the sled dog the men were dreaming for.