In the books Catch 22, by Joseph Heller, and Call of the Wild, by Jack London, the main characters, Buck the dog, and John Yossarian struggle with the realization that they lack power. They both journey through the books to regain power and control over their own lives. While they both eventually manage to reclaim their power and pride, they accomplish this in very different manners.
A key part in each story, is the state of the two main characters, Yossarian and Buck. In the beginning of Call of the Wild, Buck is lazily “ruling” the estate he lives on, confident that everything is fine. At the start chronologically of Catch 22, Yossarian is an idealistic gunner on a B-25 who thinks that the war is a good cause. In the books, both characters experience a sudden event that traumatically changes both of their outlooks on life. For buck, it is when
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He knows that this is killing his team, but he believes he is helpless to disobey and eventually is only saved by another man. Yossarian though, realizes that what he does only hurts his team, and for a good portion of the book, despairs over this. He refuses to make any meaningful connections so he will not feel bad about the mistreatment of his team. But, by the end, almost all of the people he tried to protect have been killed. He realizes from his position he has no power to hurt or even affect his superiors and, reinvigorated by learning of his bunkmate Orr’s escape to Sweden, he decides, in one final act of defiance, that he will run away too. Although he knows that it would be almost impossible to make it to Sweden all that matters is that he tries to escape. This is Yossarian’s way of regaining his pride and control over his own life and choices. Buck, by the end of the book, has killed fourteen humans, the creatures who had controlled him his whole life, and he reclaims control over himself as he leads a wolf