Domestic And Primal Instinct In The Call Of The Wild

Research Paper: The Call of the wild

The story discusses the relationship between domestic and primal instinct. Buck is introduced as a soft dog living in a luxurious mansion. He is taken and placed in an environment with other dogs, ultimately he discovers that he had these instincts in him. The story suggest that often to survive, moral nature must die, which is a connection to naturalism. Buck in the wild was so called “nice” and let the other dogs take his food, but he soon learned that stealing his food was the best way to survive.

London uses descriptions of the environment to describe the moods of the dogs, as though the two were connected. “Over the whiteness and silence brooded a ghostly calm. There was not the faintest whisper of

In the book, London claims, “…instincts long dead became alive again…he remembered back…to the time wild dogs ranged in packs…killed their meat as they ran it down…these instincts quickened the old life within him…” (McEwen). This is a symbol of Naturalism because in it, Buck feels the stimulation of his ancestors in his heart, he feels the actions they implemented , and these innovations helped him to reconcile better and faster, as if he had done it in another life

Early on, he feels that he and the pack are alone and this group of Americans, not knowing anything, would lead them into gloom London states, “Buck felt vaguely that there was no depending upon these two men and women” (Williams). This an example of Naturalism because Buck’s instincts tell him that men could not be trusted, even though, at the time, they had not shown the sure manifestations of this that they show downstream. Once again, a showing of