Quotes From The Call Of The Wild

Interpreting The Call of The Wild

In his classic book "The Call of the Wild," Jack London tells the narrative of Buck, a domestic dog who is kidnapped from his cozy home in California and sold into the harsh world of the Alaskan gold rush. As he struggles how to endure in the brutal and merciless wilderness throughout the book, Buck's character evolves, eventually embracing his wild animal instincts.

The novel is a story that explores the theme of naturalism, where the struggle for survival is the primary driving force of life. The journey of Buck serves as a metaphor for the state of humanity, in which social pressures frequently cause our natural primal tendencies to be suppressed. Buck is stripped of his domesticated life and introduced into the wild, his natural instincts begin to

Buck’s transformation is not without struggle and loss. Throughout the novel, he faces many challenges and obstacles, and only through his strength and resilience is he able to survive. For example, London writes, “he was beaten (he knew that); but he was not broken. He saw, once for all, that he stood no chance against a man with a club. He learned the lesson, taking the experience to heart…” (Chapter 1). This quote highlights the importance of Bucks adaptability and resilience in the face of adversity, a key theme in the novel. Buck learns that he must conquer all the obstacles and adversities he faces in order to survive. London shows how Buck now thinks in this new world he is now in, “He must master or be mastered; while to show mercy was a weakness. Mercy did not exist in the primordial life. It was misunderstood for fear, and such misunderstandings made for death. Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, was the law; and this mandate, down out of the depths of Time, he obeyed.” (Chapter 6). This quote shows the new mindset of Buck that is now printed in his mind from all the past lessons he has