Jack London's "The Call of the Wild" tells the story of Buck, a powerful and pampered St. Bernard-Scotch Shepherd mix living a comfortable life on Judge Miller's estate in sunny Santa Clara Valley, California. However, his idyllic existence is shattered when he is stolen by a gardener and sold into service as a sled dog in the brutal and unforgiving Yukon Territory during the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s.
Buck's journey north is a
harsh introduction to the "law of club and fang." He experiences
cruelty, starvation, and a complete reversal of his former pampered life. He
quickly learns to adapt to the primitive conditions, drawing on ancient, dormant
instincts for survival. He is initially sold to two French-Canadian mail
carriers, François and Perrault, who train him as a sled dog. In their team, he
develops a bitter rivalry with Spitz, the vicious and dominant lead dog.
Through cunning and brute strength, Buck eventually defeats and kills Spitz,
asserting his own leadership over the pack.
After a period of
successful mail runs, Buck and the team are sold to new, inexperienced, and
cruel owners: a vain woman named Mercedes, her weak husband Charles, and her
arrogant brother Hal. These owners, ill-suited for the harsh wilderness,
mistreat the dogs, overload the sled, and quickly run out of food. The dogs
become exhausted, starving, and sick, and many die.
Just as Buck is on the
verge of death from abuse and starvation, a kind and experienced prospector
named John Thornton intervenes, saving Buck from Hal's brutal beating. Buck
develops an intense and unwavering loyalty and love for Thornton, seeing him as
his "ideal master." He performs incredible feats for Thornton,
including pulling a thousand-pound sled to win a bet and saving him from
drowning.
Despite his deep bond with
Thornton, the "call of the wild" increasingly tugs at Buck. He feels
ancestral urges to roam free in the wilderness. He begins to explore the forest
for longer periods, hunting large game and even befriending a wild wolf from a
local pack. He is torn between his devotion to Thornton and the primal
instincts awakening within him.
Tragedy strikes when Buck
returns to camp one day to find that John Thornton and his companions have been
attacked and killed by a group of Yeehat Native Americans. Enraged and
heartbroken, Buck unleashes his wild fury on the attackers, killing several of
them. With his last human tie severed, Buck fully embraces his wild nature. He
joins the wolf pack he had previously encountered and eventually becomes its
legendary leader, known as the "Ghost Dog" of the Northland.
Though fully wild, Buck
never forgets John Thornton. Each year, on the anniversary of Thornton's death,
he returns to the place where his beloved master fell, mourning his loss before
returning to lead his wolf pack, "singing a song of the younger world,
which is the song of the pack." The novel explores themes of nature versus
nurture, the brutal realities of survival, the power of instinct, and the
profound bonds that can form between humans and animals.
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