Return to Our Own Wild
The Call of the Wild is a short adventure novel written by Jack London during Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. In this book, Jack London recounts how Buck, supporting by the desire for survival, changed from a domesticated dog to a leader of “wolves”.
In the beginning of the story, Buck is stolen from his home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska. Since Manuel sold Buck as a sled dog, days when he led an easy and comfortable life were gone. Instead, Buck’s life becomes a harsh struggle for existence in which he must either kill or be killed. The man in the red sweater has beaten Buck badly by a club. And Buck learned to respect the law of the club. That was the first time Buck learned the law of nature. The man in the red sweater had a big influence on him.
According to Jack London,“Buck was beaten（he knew that）but he was not broken.” Buck is clever enough making such a decision to adapt himself to the harsh environment. Buck understands that he has been taken from civilization into a wild, primitive place. On his travel to the North, he quickly learns to survive cold winter nights and the pack society from his teammates. Gradually, Buck turns to his primitive instincts more and more as he struggles to survive in the wild North. At the end of his first traveling, Buck beat Spitz and Buck becomes the leader of the team. His strong sense of honor and great capacity helped him do an excellent job. He made the dogs run faster and work efficiently.
Then, Buck was sold to a man working the mail service. The dogs must carry a heavy load to the mining areas, and the journey they make is tiresome and long. Without breaks, they had new masters. The dogs have been poorly treated and are in a weakened condition. During the toil, Buck was saved by a kind-hearted man named Thornton. Buck’s previous masters are evil, greedy and selfish. They rarely considered dogs. Dogs were hungry and exhausted. They eager to get more rest. However, their masters ignored the dogs’ feeling and physical condition, and they still struck the dogs. Therefore, when Thornton saved Buck, Buck was grateful for him.
Thornton saved Buck from being beaten to death by the odious Hal and then becomes Buck’s master. From then on, a deep and abiding love blossoms between man and dog. Buck learned to love through the happy days they spent together. Again, he trusted a human being, and Thornton become the only connection between Buck and human beings. During the days, Buck explores the wilderness and socializes with a timber wolf from a local pack. However, because of the relationship with Thornton, he ran back to him every time. Indeed, so strong is their bond that it is broken only when Thornton dies, and even then Buck makes an annual pilgrimage to his last master’s final resting place. When Thornton dead, Buck totally divorced from human beings’ world and went back to the wild, the world belonging to him. The return to primitivism is not easy, but Buck succeed with his Strength. “No fair play. Once down, that was the end of you.” It is the rule that Buck learns to survive. It is also an important idea to support him beating others and become the king of the wolves.
Buck’s loyalty, honor and love are so precious and estimable. Masters beat the dog from time to time because they regarded themselves as the master of the life and they thought they were the truth. Thornton treat Buck like a partner so that he earn the real respect and love from Buck. However, Thornton’s death destroyed the human-dog relationship. That push Buck to seek his own way, which is to return to nature. It suggests that for the truly masterful animal, the greatest of dogs, having a master is only a temporary condition.
As Carl Sandburg said,” The Call of The Wild is the greatest dog story ever written and is at the same time a study of one of the most curious and profound motives that play hide-and-seek in the human soul” By telling the experience of Buck, Jack London wanted us to respect nature and admire nature, return to our own wild.
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