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Mastery In The Call Of The Wild

995 Words4 Pages

Santiago Baltodano
Mrs. Friend
English 8
Mar 7, 2023 Charles Darwin described a world in which only the fittest survive, and in Jack London’s book The Call of the Wild, Buck lives this ideology by mastering the laws of the wild. Throughout Buck’s journey from a California mansion to the treacherous wilderness of Alaska, he brutally learned the laws of nature by witnessing those who weren’t fit get devoured, sometimes literally. Eventually, he came to master these laws, and his pursuit of mastery led not only to his survival, but his ability to thrive in harsh conditions. In The Call of the Wild, Jack London demonstrates that in the wilderness, the struggle for mastery will lead to survival through Buck’s journey to a legend. During Buck’s …show more content…

London vividly illustrates the command of the wild Buck obtained during the fight: “There is a patience of the wild-dogged, tireless, persistent as life itself… and it belonged to Buck” (81). This fight with the moose showed Buck at his highest capabilities; a true master of the wilderness, using skills that are only to be mastered through struggle. Buck’s battle with the moose was very one-sided, and showed not just Buck’s physical strength but the intelligence of the wild that can only be obtained through experiencing it. Even fewer are capable of thriving in the wilderness the way Buck did, and this ultimately classifies Buck as a primordial beast miles ahead of other animals. Buck’s mastery of the wilderness allowed him to become “a thing of the wild… a passing shadow that appeared and disappeared among the shadows” (79). This description of Buck from London showed the level of mastery Buck claimed of the natural world. This ultimately demonstrates the importance of mastery in the wilderness, and London’s belief that it is necessary to thrive in any scenario. Animals such as Buck’s moose opponent simply survive in the wild, and clearly do not hold any competition to an animal like Buck. London uses this scene to highlight the importance of the struggle for mastery, because in Buck’s clash against the Moose, Buck’s mastery is what made him best his

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