In Jack London's classic novel "The Call of the Wild," the theme of loss and grief is a prevalent theme throughout the story. The main character, Buck, experiences the loss of his home, his family, and his identity. This paper will examine the ways in which London portrays loss and grief through Buck's experiences, as well as how he copes with these emotions.
At the beginning of the novel, Buck is living a comfortable life as a domesticated dog in the Santa Clara Valley. However, when he is stolen and sold into the brutal world of the Yukon, he experiences a profound loss of his home and family. This loss is depicted by London in Chapter 2, where Buck is first introduced to the harsh realities of his new life:
"The thought of his home and the loved ones there had been a vague impression in his mind, but no more, until he cried out plaintively, at the moment of the seizure, and had been swiftly clubbed into insensibility" (London 9).
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The suddenness and violence of his capture further emphasize the loss and trauma he experiences.
As Buck adapts to his new life as a sled dog, he also experiences the loss of his identity as a domesticated pet. He learns to tap into his primal instincts and becomes more like a wild animal than a domesticated one. This loss of identity is exemplified in Chapter 3, where Buck fights fiercely with the other sled dogs:
"He was sounding the deeps of his nature, and of the parts of his nature that were deeper than he, going back into the womb of Time. He was mastered by the sheer surging of life, the tidal wave of being, the perfect joy of each separate muscle, joint, and sinew in that it was everything that was not death, that it was aglow and rampant, expressing itself in movement, flying exultantly under the stars and over the face of dead matter that did not move" (London