Examples Of Greed In The Call Of The Wild

One’s quest for greed and selfishness tear the soul apart. Throughout the novel, "Call of the Wild", written by Jack London it was apparent that due to the greed of multiple characters, lives of others were destroyed. Wherever Buck wandered the selfishness of others took away his happiness. Greed destroys and takes from everyone and everything. To begin with, Buck had a golden life. Buck's owner, Judge Miller, provided him with all he could imagine, the book states, "Buck lived at a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley." (Chapter 1 Page 1) Unfortunately, the greed of the gardener, Miguel, tears that away from him. This is proven by two quotes in which the story states, "He loved to play Chinese lottery. Also, in his gambling, he had one besetting weakness--faith in a system; and this made his damnation certain. For to play a system requires money,

An example of this is, "There was no hope for him. Buck was inexorable. Mercy was a thing reserved for gentler climes. He maneuvered for the final rush. The circle had tightened till he could feel the breaths of the huskies on his flanks. He could see them, beyond Spitz and to either side, half-crouching for the spring, their eyes fixed upon him." (Chapter 4 Page 42) Buck, blinded by his lust and greed for power overthrew the once lead dog, Spitz, to gain more of what he wanted, power. Another example of this is, "At last, at the end of the fourth day, he pulled the great moose down." (Chapter 7) Buck's greed for more and more power drove him to kill a large bull moose in which he found a worthy opponent. However, this kill was not for food, there were plenty of cows and calves around the bull to attack. Moreover, Buck just wanted to feel the pride and satisfaction of knowing that he took down a living creature multiple times his size. This decision would prove deadly, Thornton was killed in Buck’s