The Theme Of Survival In The Call Of The Wild

CRAFT MOVES ESSAY - SAMPLE “Life, in a sense, is living and surviving,” said Jack London, one of the most famous authors of the survival genre. Jack London, who wrote Call of the Wild, a tale of survival, created an exciting, yet brutal tale of life in the Klondike during the Klondike Gold Rush through the eyes of a sled dog named Buck. Buck from Call of the Wild was kidnapped from his home in California and sold as a sled dog. He endured several owners. Some were well-prepared and some were brutal. He finally is united with one the best owners, John Thorton, before the end of the book. Throughout the changes of owners, Buck must learn to adapt and survive to owners and the environment. Jack London in Call of the Wild used several craft moves

As the novel opens, the harsh environment of the Klondike is contrasted with Buck’s home back in California. For example the narrator stated, “ He had been suddenly jerked from the heart of civilization and flung into the heart of things primordial. No lazy, sun-kissed life was this”(25). The use of the words “jerked” and “flung” appeal to the reader's sense of touch and recreate the feeling of being violently thrown into a horrible situation. Later in the novel, Buck almost dies as a result of poor owners and the unpredictable environment. When Hal, Charles, and Mercedes, refuse the warning from John Thorton about the trail thawing, their sled breaks through the ice. As Buck and John Thorton watch their group proceed on, “...the whole section of ice gave way and dogs and humans disappeared. A yawning hole was all that was to be seen” (114). This example helps the reader visualize the large section of ice that opened and swallowed up Hal, Charles, and Mercedes as they fell through the ice. In addition this was also a great metaphor of comparing the ice breaking open to that of a large mouth opening to yawn. In this moment, the unpredictability of the environment was shown through sensory