Examples Of Natural Selection In The Call Of The Wild

In short, Darwin's theory of natural selection is that individuals with traits (genetic or otherwise) advantageous to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce than others (of the same species, but without those advantageous traits). For example, a colony of rabbits is born in the woods. Some rabbits are tan-ish grey, while others are albino. Furthermore, while some rabbits have stronger legs, others are weak. Due to not blending in well with their surroundings, and not being able to run or kick as fast, some of these rabbits will have a lower chance of survival than their siblings. The Call of the Wild's theme of "survival of the fittest" is, by definition, also a theme, or aspect, of Darwin's theory of natural selection.

Curly attempts to fight back, but is ultimately beaten and further attacked by the group of dogs surrounding them. This is where Buck himself learns the lesson of survival of the fittest, proven by the quote "So that was the way. No fair play. Once down, that was the end of you. Well, he would see to it that he never went down.", also in chapter two. In chapter three, Buck has to put this lesson into practice when he gets into a fight with Spitz. After winning the fight and witnessing Spitz's subsequent mauling, Buck becomes the leader of the sled dogs. However, feats of strength isn't the only example of survival of the fittest in "Call of the Wild". Dogs also had to learn to quickly adapt and adjust in order to survive. Buck demonstrates this skill all throughout the book, for example, when Buck learns how to steal without being caught. After stealing bacon from Perrault, Buck, one who is never suspected for theft, gets away with it, while Dub, a dog who is constantly getting caught, gets blamed. The narrator goes on to say "This first theft marked Buck as fit to survive in the hostile Northland environment. It marked his adaptability, his capacity to adjust himself to changing conditions, the lack of which would have meant swift and terrible death.", further proving that adaptability was also needed to survive that

Although is is true that, in many cases, organisms with certain advantageous traits are more likely to survive, there are just as many cases where organisms with more disadvantageous traits have a higher likelihood of survival than their comparatively more advantageous siblings. Take the human race, for example. Way in the past, Darwin's theory of natural selection most definitely applied to us. If a person were born with a physical disability, they would be less likely to survive the harsh environments of, say, the stone age. However, in the 21st century, we have technology able to both keep a person with physical disabilities alive, and often, self-sufficient. Furthermore, depending on a person's access to medical attention, money, food, as well as one's own free will, a person with genetically disadvantageous traits could have a higher likelihood of survival than a person without those traits. Even in the case of animals, human interference could raise an animal's likelihood of survival much higher than it would be with natural selection. For example, with natural selection, the runt of a litter of puppies would have less of a likelihood of survival than its siblings. However, if a human were to come across this runt and adopt it, its likelihood of survival would become much higher than its siblings. In short, although Darwin's theory of natural selection may have had more relevance in the past, advancements in