Introduction: The Call of the Wild by Jack London is an adventure novel about the story of a young Saint Bernard named Buck who is torn from his quiet home as a pet and transformed into a freezing sled dog in the midst of the Klondike Gold Rush. The story shows Buck's evolution after being kidnapped from a peaceful ranch in a rural area of ​​Canada where he ruled. When he is caught, he is transported through many areas until he is finally sold to a French-Canadian man named Perrault. Together with his colleague Francois, Perrault begins to breed Buck to become a sled dog along with several other dogs with polarizing personalities. Like a homegrown dog with everything to himself, Buck is forced to rekindle his natural instincts. This is not only necessary to perform as a sled dog, but also to survive in the extreme conditions of the harsh Canadian and Alaskan winters. While you are a quick learner, these attributes will not come without difficulty. Buck will face many challenges such as finding independence, working as a team, and controlling his pride, all recurring themes in the book. Thesis Statement: Through Jack London's extremely descriptive author style, the reader is truly able to follow and visualize Buck's story every step of the way in The Call of The Wild. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Background: The story begins in 1897 with a dog named Buck residing in a large house in Santa Clara Valley, California, owned by Judge Miller. One day a poor Miller employee runs off with Buck and sells him to a group of people who knock him out and stuff him in a trunk. The group of men take Buck to a field owned by a man in a red sweater who beats him into submission with a bat after he attempts to retaliate several times. More dogs circulate around the camp until eventually Buck and another dog named Curly are transported to a ship with two men named Francois and Perrault, along with two other dogs named Dave and Spitz. Upon arriving at Dyea Beach, Curly is attacked by a pack of huskies and killed; Spitz finds this funny which causes Buck to immediately feel hatred towards him. After the issue Buck quickly learns to pull a sled and three more dogs are added to the sled team. The first day cycle passes and Buck begins to see the first signs of his natural instincts returning, three more dogs are added to make a full team of nine led by Spitz. Tensions begin to rise between Buck and Spitz as he repeatedly attacks Buck where he is weak. As tensions rise, a rabbit chase leads Buck and Spitz to a fateful battle; Spitz begins to overwhelm Buck at first, but Buck is able to trick him and finish Spitz with a leg bite. Buck promptly accepts the leadership position in Spitz's place and the team manages to reach their final destination in record time. This allows them to gain fame for a short time, François and Perrault however are taken elsewhere by their managers and the team is sold to a group of Scots. Scots focus on heavier loads rather than having fun and also remember more memories of the Bucks' ancestors from primitive times due to their physical characteristics. Thirty days later they are handed over to a new, very inexperienced team of three youngsters, along with six new unskilled dogs making up a team of 14 dogs; not rested from the last effort, the sleigh sets off again. Poor management of resources and neglectThe new team's general leaves all but five of the dogs dead and the rest barely alive. They eventually reach John Thornton's camp, and although warned of the dangerous state of the frozen lake, the party insists on moving on. Even after being beaten several times with the club, Buck refuses to continue with the team seeing the formidable future; Thornton and Buck then watch the rest of the sleigh crew go down into the frozen lake, never to be seen again. Buck begins to regain his strength as his bond with Thornton becomes unbreakable, but his natural instincts also begin to grow rapidly and he begins to hear strange calls from the forest. Buck ends up saving Thornton's life twice and winning him a $1,600 bet with a rich man who couldn't pull a $1,000 sled. After Thornton moves north with the money, Buck befriends a woodwolf after finally answering the call of the wild. He continues to leave the field for long periods of time until he creates two different identities for himself; a wild animal and Thornton's dog. One day, while returning to camp, he discovers that Thornton and all his acquaintances have been killed by the Yeehat Indians; in revenge he kills most of the tribe, while scaring the rest. Buck returns to the wolves to fully integrate into the pack and, according to the Yeehats, returns to Thornton's Death Valley every year to mourn his fallen master. Theme Sentence: The tone of The Call of the wild is expressed primarily through Bucks emotions in the book. Evidence and quotes: London obviously has positive feelings towards Buck, but also sympathy in describing his emotions. A good example of this is when he describes Bucks' emotions as he is locked in the cage by the man in the red sweater, "And Buck, truly a red-eyed devil as he composed himself for the spring, with spiky hair, with drool at the mouth, a mad glint in the bloodshot eyes Commentary: The tone here is intense and suspenseful because of the way London conveys Buck's feelings formal and extremely descriptive choice of words when describing certain events in the book. An example of this is when we are introduced to Judge Miller's house at the beginning of the book: “Buck lived in a large house in the sunny Santa Clara Valley. His name was Judge Millers Place. It lay some distance from the trees, through which one could glimpse the wide, cool veranda that ran around its four sides. The house was approached by paths with grapples that wound across wide lawns and under branches intertwined with tall poplars. Comment: These very in-depth descriptions of the exterior of the house were not necessary to understand the story, but they contribute to the imagery and Jack London's extremely descriptive diction. Topic Sentence: London uses a great deal of figurative language in The Call of the Wild; consisting mainly of images, symbolism, similes and metaphors. Evidence and Quotations: During the time Buck attacks the Yeehat Indians, London writes: “It was Buck, a living hurricane of fury, rushing upon them in a frenzy to destroy them. He leaped at the leading man (he was the leader of the Yeehat), slashing his throat until a fountain of blood flowed from his ruptured jugular. Comment: There are 2 metaphors in this sentence, along with images; the reader is able to clearly visualize the Indian's throat being slashed and feel that all the Bucks are storing up anger against the Indians. Evidence and Quotes: An example of simile is when the male finally begins to realize the progression of his physical being after beingbecame an expert sled dog: “His development (or regression) was rapid. His muscles became hard as iron and he became numb to all common pains. Comment: In this simile, the deer's progression from domestic dog to sled dog is shown by comparing its muscles to iron. Evidence and Quotations: There is one main symbol recurring throughout the book, which is the man in the red sweater from the beginning of the story. After Buck is beaten by the man in the red sweater and truly defeated for the first time in his life; is introduced to the philosophy of primitive law: “That club was a revelation. It was the introduction to the realm of primitive law, and it met the introduction halfway. Comment: Primitive law is a recurring idea in the book that simply means rules of force, and every time this idea comes up, Buck connects it to the man in the red sweater. Topic Sentence: The sentence structure of The Call of the Wild is very parallel and descriptive. Evidence and Citations: London uses many complex, compound sentences when describing important events such as Buck running with his pack in the winter night, "When the long winter nights come and the wolves follow their meat into the valleys below, he can be seen running at the head of the pack through the pale moonlight or the glittering northern light, leaping gigantic above his companions, with his great throat bellowing as he sings a song of the younger world, which is the song of the pack Comment: this sentence includes two independent and two dependent clauses to create a very descriptive sentence. London maintains this structure most of the time in the book to create a lot of imagery in the important parts of the story. This formatting makes the book much more interesting to read because the reader has the feeling of experiencing the book firsthand. Thematic sentence: Although there are many themes in The Call of the Wild, the most important one in the story is survival of the fittest. Evidence and Quotes: Buck is able to demonstrate that he is the alpha dog by living with more than 15 dogs in the same situation as him. By regaining his instincts and learning from others, his decision making and physical abilities become unparalleled. “When he saw Pike, one of the new dogs, a cunning simulator and cunningly steal a piece of bacon when Perrault's back was turned, he duplicated the performance the next day, getting away with a whole piece. A great commotion arose, but he was beyond suspicion; while Dub, a clumsy mistake who always got caught, was punished for Buck's misdeed. Comment: This contributes to the theme because it shows that Buck is better suited to survival than other dogs and is using his favorable attributes to get away with trouble and, in turn, reap extra rewards. Evidence and Quotes: Another example of survival of the fittest is when Buck refuses to cross the frozen lake and instead decides to stay at Thornton's camp, "They saw Charles turn and take a step to run back, and then a entire section of the ice gave way and the dogs and humans disappeared.” Comment: This contributes to the theme of survival of the fittest because Buck was the only dog ​​smart enough to stay at camp in the dark water knowing he had made the right decision. Evidence and quotes: The ultimate example of survival of the fittest is when Buck brings down a wild elk “At the end of the fourth day, he brought down the great elk. Day and night he stood by the prey, eating and sleeping, tossing and turning.” Comment: At this point in the book, Buck has become the apex predator and has regained all of his natural instincts from his ancestors.