Call Of The Wild - Thematic Summary

4 Pages 924 Words

More important than the actual events of the novel are many of the themes expressed throughout the story. These include Buck’s gradual transition from pampered housedog to powerful sled dog to wild beast, greed and the mistreatment of animals, loyalty and love, and even what "The Call of the Wild" actually means.
Throughout the book, Buck would hear a howling from the woods, or saw visions of his ancestors in his sleep. He had looked into the campfire and seen back generations, to the wild dogs who were his ancestors, and the hairy men who were their masters. He recognized how their lives connected them. Something within him longed to return to the state that these ancestors lived in, to answer the call of the wild. As the novel continued, he had given into this call more and more often, and each time, to a greater extent. He experienced physical changes, such as the hardening of his muscles, and many emotional changes, the desire to join his wild brother, and the dislike for his former life in the Santa Clara Valley. At one point in the book, Buck leaned his head back and gave a long, low wolf howl. It excited him like nothing he had ever felt, and expressed the change he felt toward the wild beast. When Buck finally gave in to the call permanently, there was a sense that Buck had achieved the destiny that he was meant for, and that his primitive life would give him a happiness that he had never before experienced.
Jack London showed greed in many ways. One was the mistreatment of the sled dogs, which showed how far a human would actually go to get what he wanted. These brutal men only wanted gold. The only reason they were in the Alaskan wilderness was for the riches that were spread amongst the treacherous terrain. The ideas of having money, and being wealthy were enough to force a man to beat a dog, as if the dog could feel no pain. All through the story, the sled drivers would starve their dogs, trying to force them to work h...