The Call Of The Wild Essay

London’s novella, The Call of the Wild, tells the story of Buck’s transformation from a domesticated pet on a vast Santa Clara Valley estate to the primal beast he becomes in the bitter regions of the Klondike wilderness. Using a variety of settings, a simple plot, and contrasting narration, London tells Buck’s story in an impactful way which implies that the simplicity of a natural life is an individual’s true foundation, rather than a life of struggle and toil in society’s so-called civilized world. Settings in The Call of the Wild consist of generally harsh and vicious locations, situations previously unknown to Buck, and various hostile persons and dogs. As well as a variety of settings, London uses opposing narration styles to differentiate Buck’s point-of-view as opposed to the rest of the dialogue, switching between a simple narration

The gold rush brought wealth that drove industry and advances in civilization which could not be stopped. London’s story is that of leaving the rush and confusion of advancing society and civilization behind for a more tame and simple life, of belonging to nature and the environment. Raymond Benoit, an English professor at the St. Louis University, wrote of London’s narration being pastoral in nature and described the book as “a ritual enactment of the American wish to turn back to simplicity” (Benoit 247). London’s narration uses two styles to tell the story; one being from Buck’s point of view, simple and straight forward. Comparatively, for other characters and narration, it is more complex and poetic. Benoit goes on to describe London’s narration as “the syntactic equivalent of the effete, over-complicated society the book criticizes. When Buck is the subject, however, the prose moves in this rhythmic gait to the tune of “no ideas but in things” (Benoit