Throughout
the novel The Call of the Wild, we follow a dog named
Buck through his journey through the Klondike. We
experience a transformation in him, as he adapts to the cold,
harsh land where he is forced to toil in the snow, just to help
men find a shiny metal. Buck seems to almost transform into
a different dog by the end of the book. In this essay, I will
go over what Buck was like, how and why he was forced to
adapt to his new environment, and what he changed into.
When we first met up with Buck, he lived in the Santa Clara
Valley, on Judge Miller's property. He was the ruler of his
domain, uncontested by any other local dogs. he was a mix
between a St. Bernard and a Scotch Shepherd dog.
He
weighed one hundred and forty pounds, and he carried
every one with utmost pride. Buck had everything he could
want. Little did he know, he would soon have it all taken
away from him. One night, while the judge was away at a
raisin grower's committee meeting, the gardener, Manuel,
took Buck away from his home. Buck was then sold, and
thrown in a baggage car. This would be the beginning of a
new, cruel life for Buck.
On his ride to wherever he was
going, Buck's pride was severely damaged, if not
completely wiped out by men who used tools to restrain
him. No matter how many times Buck tried to lunge, he
would just be choked into submission at the end. When
Buck arrived at his destination, there was snow everywhere,
not to mention the masses of Husky and wolf dogs. Buck
was thrown into a pen with a man who had a club. This is
where Buck would learn one of the two most important laws
that a dog could know in the Klondike. The law of club is
quite simple, if there is a man with a club, a dog would be
better off not to challenge that man.
Buck learned this law
after he was beaten half to death by the man who had the
club. no matter what he tried, he just couldn't win. Buck was
sold off to a man who put him in a harness connected to
many other dogs. Buck was bad at first, but eventually, he
learned the way of trace and trail. Buck had to learn many
things if he was to survive in this frigid land.
He had to learn
to sleep under the snow, and to eat his food as fast as
possible so as not to have it stolen. At about this point in the
book, we see Buck start to go through a metamorphosis of
sorts. He transforms from a house dog to a more primitive,
savage version of his former self. It was as if hundreds of
years of knowledge, learned by his ancestors, were dug up
and brought out. Buck proceeded to lose all the fat in his
body and replace it with muscle. Buck was no longer Judge
Miller's pet.
He was a machine of survival and triumph.Most Southland dogs like him ended up dead because of
their inability to conform. Buck was born to lead the team,
but one dog would do everything possible to try and keep
him down. This dog's name was Spitz.
Spitz was a white
wolf dog who was a proven champion in confrontation and
was as crafty as they come. It was clear that he and Buck
would not work well together. When dogs have
confrontation in the Klondike, only one survives. This was
because of a law called fang. The law of Fang is such that,
when two dogs fight and one is knocked to the ground, that
is it.
The rest of the spectators will instantly pounce on the
downed dog and make quick work of it. All of these
unspoken rules had turned Buck into the Best dog to ever
roam the Klondike. Buck did eventually fight Spitz and send
him to his death. After all of the transformations and cruelty
he had been through, you would think that Buck would
never be able to trust another human. He was being starved
to death by a gold seeking group who had not brought
enough food for the dogs. When Buck could finally not
move another step, a man from the group started to beat
Buck.
As the blows grew less and less painful, and he was
fading farther and farther, Buck knew he was dying. While
Buck was being beaten, a man named John Thornton came
forth and took Buck from his attacker. The man nursed
Buck back to health, and from that day forward, Buck lived
for that man. Buck loved him with all his being.
After being
with this man for quite some time, Buck started to hear a call
from far away. He started paying more and more attention
to this call. He went out for days at a time searching for it's
source. This call was the call of the wild. He had a will to go
off and be with other dogs. He felt the urge to be free from
man and catch his own food.
One day, Buck finally left for
good. He was excepted by a pack of wolves who treated
him like a wolf himself. And so the transformation was
complete. Buck had changed from a dog, to a beast of
nature.
