Call Of The Wild - Plot Summary

3 Pages 712 Words

The Call of the Wild is about Buck, the son of a St. Bernard and a Scotch Shepherd dog, who was taken from his beautiful home in California to the treacherous Alaskan wilderness, where he discovers the the call of the wild within him.
At first, Buck is a companion to Judge Miller and his family in the Santa Clara Valley, California. Because of the gold rush in the north, there is a demand for strong dogs that can lead sleds, and Buck is stolen from Judge Miller’s estate and transported north for sale as a sled dog. It is during this journey that the first changes emerge in Buck.
Before being sold to Francois and Perrault, to join their team in sledding across the north, he is broken by the man in the red sweater. Though the man teaches him his first lesson in the law of club and fang, Buck allows himself to be broken only physically. He never would let man break his spirit. From this time on, Buck is initiated into a new world. He sees his friend, Curly, brutally killed, and he himself is beaten by both man and fellow dog as he adapts to his surrounding. As he adapts, Buck finds that he has a tendency to lead the pack, and soon grows an adversary in the current dog team leader, Spitz. From the very start of their rivalry, it is obvious that some harm will come to one of them. After much struggle and competition, Buck finally kills Spitz and takes over the lead of the team.
After growing a sort of respect for Francois and Perrault, Buck and his team are sold to Hal, Mercedes and Charles. Hal, although inexperienced and very incompetent as a sledder, believes that he knows best despite the advice from other sledders. His sled is too heavy, and he pushes the dogs too hard. He fails to bring enough food, and the dogs start to become exhausted and starved. Through much laziness and poor judgment, Hal runs his dog team to the point of death, at which time Buck collapses. Hal inflicts blow after blow on him, and puts Buck closer and clo...