The Call of the Wild, written by Jack London, talks us a story of a strong dog—Buck. In this book, the author uses a dog’s view to reflect human’s character and nature. The story is not just a story, we should think about it and try to change our attitude towards animals.

Let me summarize the story at first. Buck was a half-blooded dog. His father was a huge St. Bernard and his mother was a Scotch shepherd dog. So Buck was not so large—he weighed only one hundred and forty pounds. He at first lived at a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clar a Valley with his master. At that time, Buck lived a comfortable life and he did not need to find food by himself. His master would prepare all things he needed. What Buck should do was just acting cute to make his master and his master’s offspring like him. But at that time, the Northern had risen a gold rush. Many gold diggers needed komatik. So dogs were sold to the Northern from all over the world. This was not only the turning point of Buck’s life, but also the turning point of the story. Buck was sold by his master’s servant when his master was not at home. Buck’s hard life had begun.

Buck then was sent to a stout man’s home. That man wore a red sweater and took a hatchet and a club. Buck wanted to bite him, but the man used his club to beat Buck. Buck failed, and he surrendered. Though Buck wanted to go back home, he was sent to the Northern. Buck at first did not adjust the frozen cold and the cruel living rule. His companion, Curly, was killed by the local dogs. At the first night, he did not know how to sleep in such a cold night. But with his new masters and his companions’ help, Buck learnt to dig a hole and slept in the hole. Buck was a clever dog, during the winter in the Northern, he learnt a lot from his experienced masters and companions. He learnt how to steal, how to eat faster, how to eat all kinds of food. He became stronger and smarter. He became wild, just like his ancestors.

Buck was the strongest dog in the team, so he wanted to get the leadership. But Spitz, the leader of the team, refused to give the leadership to Buck. So they came into conflict. At first, because of Spitz’s experience, Buck cannot defeat Spitz, but he was smart and learnt fast. So in a snowy night, Buck found a chance to defeat Spitz. And because of the rule in that place, Buck killed Spitz. Buck won the conflict, and then he became the leader of the dog team.

Then, Buck led the dog team to their destination—Skaguay. During the running, Buck picked up the general tone of the team. So Buck was a good leader. Then, Buck was sold to another masters. He led the team to Dawson, a long and boring trip. Buck did not like that, but he pulled the sled as well as he can. Buck often dreamed a hairy man in his dream. And he often recalled the soft life in the Southern, the man with his club. But he also recalled others things which came from his parent, or his ancestors. That was the call of wild. Because of the long and hard trip, the dog team became weaker and weaker. But all the dogs still worked hard. Dave, a dog with something wrong inside, still worked as usual. But he cannot work any more, so the masters killed him. Buck thought that was his fate at last. Luckily, they reached the destination, though they were worn out. Buck’s one hundred and forty pounds had dwindled to one hundred and fifteen. He was no injured or ill. He just needed enough rest. But he was then sold to two Americans. The harder work had begun.

The two Americans was the first time to go to the Northern. They knew little about how to live in the Northern. And what is worse, they ignored others’ suggestions. So Buck was forced to pull the heavy and unsteady sled though he was tired. Because his masters did not take enough food for the dogs, Buck and his companions starved. Buck’s muscles had wasted away to knotty strings, and every bone in his frame were outlined cleanly through the loose hide that was wrinkled in folds of emptiness. Finally, in his dog team, only left 5 dogs. The spring came, they reached John Thornton’s camp. Buck’s masters ignored others’ advice again, and wanted to cross the river though the ice layer was thin. But Buck refused to go on, so his master hit him by a stick. Suddenly, Thornton saved and adopted him. Then, his old masters fell into the river with his sled.

Thanks to Thornton’s care, Buck recovered fast, and he became stronger and stronger. Buck also had a deep love to Thornton. Buck liked staying with Thornton, and he feared that Thornton would disappeared like his former masters. He could do all things Thornton wants him to do. And he could save Thornton if Thornton was in danger. He also helped Thornton win a thousand dollars in a bet. But Buck was the kid of the wild. His character and habit had changed in the Northern. He almost became a wild dog. Sometimes Buck wanted to follow the call of the wild, but the deep love of Thornton pulled him back.

Thornton and his friends wanted to dig gold in the Northern. So they took Buck and other 6 dogs to the trip finding gold. After a years’ trip, they reached a lake full of gold. That was their destination. Buck had nothing to do when they found the gold, so he often went to the forest to play. He met a wolf and made friend with the wolf. He wanted to go with the wolf, but he cannot forget Thornton. He went back, and did not want to leave Thornton. But the call of wild had not stopped. He came into forest again. At autumn, he found a group of moose. He used his wisdom and patience to kill the strongest one after four days’ attack. Then, he came back to their camp. But to his sadness, his camp was attacked by the Yeehats. Thornton and other people and dogs were killed. Buck felt angry. He killed all the Yeehats, and found the pool which may be the death place of Thornton. He stayed there all day, but at night, a group of wolves came and attacked him. Buck defeated them and became their new leader because the last tie was broken for Thornton’s death. He followed the call of wild and came into the forest. But in the long winter night, he would came back to the valley to mourn Thornton.

The story is over, but the main idea of the story should be talked about. Buck is not only a dog, he is the reflection of all of the animals in our earth. So what Buck undergoes in this book is also the animals’ undergoing. From Buck, we can learn a lot. Also, from this book, we should have an introspection of what we have done to animals and try to treat them well in the future.

From Buck, we can learn his skill of adjusting. Buck lived in the Southern at first. But he was sold to the Northern. There was a vast difference. But Buck could adjust fast and became the leader of the dog team. I think Buck can do it not only because of his wisdom, but also for his stubbornness. We cannot have the same wisdom or strength of Buck, but we can learn his stubbornness. Now many people may give up fast when facing to problem. They need the stubbornness like Buck. Every celebrity has stubbornness. That is the first and most important quality they should have. Sima Qian was castrated, but he did not suicide. He persisted on his work—Shih Chi, and finally, he finished this one of the most famous historical document. Chairman Mao, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, at first was not acceptable by the other. But he was stubborn. He insisted on his theory, and finally, he succeeded in founding the new country. So we can see that we should be stubbornness to get our goals, just like Buck.

But in this book, the main idea is not that we should learn from Buck, but is that we should have a deep introspection about what we have done to animals.

At first, Buck was living a comfortable life. But his master’s servant stole him and sold him. And in the Northern, Buck was used as a tool. From that we can see our people usually regard the dogs, or other animals as tools. We make use of animals such as buffaloes to plough, dogs to hunt. And we never introspect ourselves, because we think we are the master of animals. I think if we do not change the way we treat them, we would one day face to disaster. Let me show you the story of Noah’s Ark. The god was angry about the people in the world because they were wicked. So he made a water flood to destroy human. But he built the Noah’s Ark to save the animals and the good people. At last, all the wicked dead. So we can find that our human are not the master of earth, and we should not regard other animals as tools. Or we would face to disaster.

In the second chapter, I notice the cruel rule in the Northern. The dogs in the Northern were cruel. They would attack others without any word. When they were died, nobody would feel sad to them. They were just buried in the snow or eaten by other animals. That is the natural rule. The stronger would dominate the weaker. But we people do not have the same rule because we have our civilization and regulation. We have our law to protect the weaker and restrict the stronger. I think that the difference between us and the animals. But the stronger bully the weaker is common in our society. The rich men can have more right but the poor men cannot get the same right. The richer can use their right to get more and more treasure, while the poorer even cannot get enough food. So the richer become richer and richer, and the poorer become poorer and poorer. I think if we do not take action to improve the situation, the gap between the rich and the poor will be bigger and bigger. But we do not need to worry too much about that because our civilization is not perfect and that situation is usual in the world. What we should do is to promote our civilization, perfect our law and improve the education. People can find any way to protect themselves and others, and that way is more useful than animals’. That is why people can develop fast.

The chapter three mainly talks about the conflict between Buck and Spitz. Buck at first was beaten by Spitz. Spitz often sneak attacked him. But that inspired Buck’s wild nature. I think all of us have such a wild nature as Buck. All of us should have a wish to get a higher place. Just like the Napoleon’s saying, ‘Every French soldier carries a marshal’s baton in his knapsack.’ I like the saying, ‘We should have a dream, or it would come true one day.’ Buck wanted to be the leader of the team, and his dream came true after his effort. I think we can do it, too.

In the chapter four, Buck became the leader of the dog team. He was a good leader because he picked up the general tone of the team. They reached the destination before they had planned. I think the dog team is similar to a company, or even a country. If a company or country has a good leader, the company or the country may develop fast. Just like the Microsoft Company, with a good leader—Bill Gates, becomes the most famous company in the world. Now most of the computers use its software. And also, the Apple, with a talent inventor—Jobs, then dominates the market of intelligent device. Our China, also, with a good leader—Deng Xiaoping, developed fast after the declaration of the reform and opening policies.so we can see the leader of a company or a country is very important. He would decide the development of the company or country. So the author’s book is not only about a single dog, but also about the development of our country. That is really critical.

In the chapter five, I want to talk about two things. The first one is about Hal, one of Buck’s new masters. Hal was arrogant. He never listen to others’ advice. I think we should think about his experience and do not let the same thing happen again in our life. Hal at last fall into the frozen river because of ignoring others’ advice. We should listen to other if we think the advice is useful to us. The emperors in ancient China were good examples. Like Emperor Taizong of Tang, he can listen to others’ advice, and at that time, the Tang Empire became the strongest in the world. But we should not follow anything other suggest, because sometimes it may not be suitable for us. What we should do is to listen to all advice and then look for what is suitable for us and follow it.

The second one is also about the relationship between human and animals. In the beginning of chapter five, the dogs did not follow their masters after being treated badly. They refused to stop because it can make their burden easier. But I think that is the reflection of the violence. They used this way to revenge their masters. So we can see, animals would resist human if they are not treated well. So we should treat them well. I think it is one of the main ideas of the book.

The chapter six, I think is mainly talks about the power of love. Because of the power of love, Buck can recover fast. Because of the power of love, Buck can follow all Thornton wanted him to do. Because of the power of love, Buck can save Thornton again and again. Because of the power of love, Buck can pull the heavy sled. But also because of the power of love, Buck was tied by love and cannot come into forest to find his nature. I think love is the most powerful thing in the world. And love is not human’s patent. All animals can have love. The power of love is mysterious and powerful. A normal lady, one day, when she was on the way home, saw her child dropped from balcony. She suddenly hurried to catch the child. Luckily, she saved the little child. After that thing happened, a scientist had found that the lady’s running speed broke the world record at that time. And the lady was just a normal woman. He felt shocked. Also, there was another similar thing happened in the world. A lady saw her child buried by a lorry. She then lifted the lorry and saved the child. The lorry was about 3 tons. That was impossible for a person, especially a normal lady to lift such a lorry. So that is the power of love. It was love that helped them achieve the impossible goal. So we should try to love others, love our world.

Chapter seven, the end of the book, is mainly about Buck’s coming back to forest. Buck belongs to the nature, but he lived in human society because man and the claims of man bound him. We are all like Buck. We have relationship with other in the society, and we cannot cut it easily. Everyone in society would not be alone. So we should keep connection with others. But the relationship would not be permanent. Just like Buck, after the death of Thornton, he had not relationship with human society. So he can come into forest to follow the call of wild. I envy Buck in that area because he can do what he want to do. That is freedom, and I love that kind of freedom. I admire the recluses in ancient China. They can live at a mountain, play with the animals, do what he want to do and do not worry about the world. I have such a dream. I also want to build a small house at the mountain, make food by farming and keep away from the busy society. But I cannot do that, maybe now, maybe in the future, also. So I really envy Buck.

From the whole book, the main idea is about the title—the call of the wild. Buck was called by the wild, and finally he followed the call of the wild. In my opinion, the wild is referred to the dream and nature of ourselves. The call of the wild is to let us find our nature and try our best to make our dream come true. In our society, because of the conflict among human, most of us hide our nature to follow the most useful habit and hobby. So more and more people come into common. That is not suitable for the development of ourselves. So the author in this book uses Buck’s story to make us find our nature and dream, but not to follow others. Nature is just nature, we should not hide it or change it.

I think Thornton's death may be a good thing to Buck.Buck can come back to nature and don't need to struggle

Buck was like a hunter,patient and skillful

Buck had conflict in his mind.he struggled. he wanted to go back to nature,but he can't forget his master

Buck belongs to nature.He should be release