Buck's Character Development In The Call Of The Wild

Reading Notes and Analysis

Character Development

The Call of the Wild

Buck – Even though ‘The Call of the Wild’ is written in third person. The events that surround the story are portrayed to be on Buck’s experiences. Buck is the protagonist of the story. Buck is a Strong, courageous, intelligent German Shepard that is taken from his California home and sold into slavery as a sled dog during the Klondike gold rush at the end of the nineteenth century. Buck figures out how to make due in this brutal environment by listening to the voice inside him. All through the story, Buck is extremely eager and dead set to be the leader of the group. His aspiration causes strain in the middle of he and Spitz, the previous leader. Buck goes from the civil and respectful dog to the bloodthirsty dog by killing Spitz and enjoying it "Buck stood and looked on, the successful champion, the dominant primordial beast who had made his kill and found it good."(London, 22) The story discusses the relationship between domestic and primal instincts, but when Buck is taken and placed into the wild with other dogs something within him changes. The story proves that in order to survive moral nature must die which illustrates Buck’s change from the civilized dog to the primordial beast.

Spitz – Spitz is a violent dog that takes on the role as the antagonist in the novel.

Spitz is initially the leader of the pack, but soon changes after Buck’s hatred towards him. Buck hates Spitz because he is the one who took down his best friend Curly upon his arrival in the artic. The killing is what started the viscous rivalry between Spitz and Buck. Eventually Buck realized in order to be come leader he will have to out due him, which leads to the final fight between Spitz and Buck leaving Spitz with a broken leg and not able to fight back. The whole pack that he once bossed around devoured him into

pieces.

John Thornton – The Call of the Wild provides reader with the idea that anyone is capable of turning into a primordial beast just like Buck does, which presents us with character John Thornton who helped Buck. John Thornton is your typical Yukon citizen being a well-known gold miner and outdoorsmen. Thornton is who saved Buck from a harsh beating by Hal. Buck develops to love Thornton due to this benevolence, helping Thornton when he is suffocating in a stream, when he is attacked. Furthermore Thornton makes a bet that Buck can pull a sled over a thousand pounds “His whole body was gathered compactly together in the tremendous effort, the muscles writhing and knotting like living things under the silky fur. The sled swayed and trembled, half-started forward."(44) Buck feels the urge to do for all of the things Thornton does for him. Thornton then takes Buck on another undertaking for gold in the Yukon Territory, in spite of the fact that the Yeehat warriors murder him, while Buck is off on his own chasing moose. After coming back and hearing the news, Buck kills these moving Yeehats in fierceness, grieving for his dead best friend.

Hal, Mercedes and Charles - These three characters are originally from the South and travel til the Klondike region in order to make money, but during their travels they decide to buy a sled dog team. Charles is a mid aged man who is known for his laziness throughout the midst of the novel. Charles is married to the only female in the story Mercedes. Mercedes starts of as a compassionate character by leaving her wardrobes out of the sled to lighten the sled. Hal is the brother of Mercedes and has an overall goal to come out of the Klondike Gold Rush much richer. Hal is no sympathy for his sled dogs, if they do anything wrong he bashes them until they die. Hal is the reason John Thornton enters the story because he is the man who saves Buck from death.

Francois and Perrault - They are both French Canadian men who are the first owners of Buck. Perrault is a news courier for the region of Alaska and Yukon. Buck learns to respect both Francois and Perrault because of their attitude towards dogs. They both believe you should be punished when doing wrong and rewarded when doing right. They both left Buck unknowingly to pursue a better job with the Canadian government.

Plot Development
Exposition – Buck is introduced as a mix of a Saint Bernard and Scottish Shepard living a luxury lifestyle in Santa Clara, California. Life is perfect for Buck, soon after Buck’s owner Judge Miller hears about the uprising of Gold in the Klondike region, and unexpectedly large dogs are wanted to pull Gold diggers throughout the region. Even though Buck follows all the guidelines to become a sled dog, Judge Miller has no worries.
Rising Action – Manuel who is one of Judge Miller’s servants steals Buck and sells him to a man in a red sweater who beats Buck immensely. The man in the red sweater sells Buck off to a sled dog team Francois and Perrault. Buck is attacked by Dolly because of the threat of the leader of the group Spitz. Spitz orders the other sled dogs to do various amount of things for him, one being to kill Curly who was Buck’s friend. Buck realizes to become leader he will have to kill Spitz, which he eventually kills him enjoying it thoroughly. Buck and his sled dog team is then sold to three inexperienced miners where they beat a number of the dogs to death. Buck being the only one rescued by a man John Thornton. John Thornton is your typical middle-aged Yukon citizen. Buck and John create a close relationship supporting each other in every situation. Buck being the type feels he has to return the favor of being saved from death. Buck wins a $ 1600 bet for John Thornton to thank him for everything he has done for him. John Thornton teaches Buck a number of things one being how to survive in the wild. Thornton takes Buck on an adventure through the woods to hunt for food, where this is Buck’s last time seeing Thornton. This is the turning point for Buck to where he was seen as a civil dog and turns into a primordial beast.
Climax – Buck returns to camp with tons caught food for Thornton. Just when Buck approaches the camp he realizes it has been attacked by the Yeehat Indians from the Yukon region and killed everyone including his mentor John Thornton.
Falling Action – Without any hesitation Buck gets revenge on the Yeehat Indians killing many and putting fear in many who once ruled the Yukon Territory. Buck showed his true development as a savage by enjoying the killing “man, the noblest game of all”.
Resolution - The resolution sums up what the whole moral of the book is. Buck has finally answered the call of the wild by becoming a legend and becoming the leader of a wolf pack. Buck has returned to the wild and trained others just like John Thornton has taught him to act.
Thematic Development
Power – Power is a theme that happens from start to finish in ‘The Call of the Wild’. While Buck was living in Santa Clara he was living the luxury life with all the power in the world, he thought. Once he was put into the wild he realized in order to stay alive you need power. At first Buck is scared of Spitz power since he was killing dog after dog, but once Buck got power hungry Spitz thoughts changed about Buck. Buck moves up the rankings by taking off dogs one by one. Once he realizes he can take down human beings, he knows he is the most powerful in the world.
Civilization vs. The Wild - The main conflict of the novel is the struggle between civilization and the wild. The ‘Call of the Wild’ showcases Bucks gradual transformation from the civil mind into a savage/ animalistic beast. Buck is introduced living “at a big house in the sun kissed Santa Clara Valley”(4). This shows he was born into class and never had to work for anything. Judge Miller described him as a king around the house “Buck was neither a house-dog nor kennel-dog”(5-6). This time in Buck's life was considered "civilized" in the sense that he lives with humans; ironically, there are numerous times of Buck’s “civil” instincts that are as savage as can be. He does develop a loving relationship with his one of his owners John Thornton, but as soon as Thornton died he transformed into a primordial beast. As soon as Buck noticed
“The Yeehats were dancing about the wreckage of the spruce-bough lodge when they heard a fearful roaring and saw rushing upon them an animal the like of which they had never seen before. It was Buck, a live hurricane of fury, hurling himself upon them in a frenzy to destroy. He sprang at the foremost man ripping, the throat open till the rent jugular spouted a fountain of blood”(198).
This should Buck’s gradual transformation when he was punished and allowed himself to be beat, then to being hesitant at first to kill Spitz and lastly without any hesitance but with joy to kill the Yeehat’s.

Literary Devices –

Lighten the Load – Mercedes loads all her possessions onto the sled making it nearly impossible for Buck and the rest of the team to pull Hal, Charles and Mercedes. These possessions proves that material belonging and consumerism have no spot in the wild, and it is at any rate somewhat Mercedes' failure to recognize this that provokes her passing when the overloaded sled ascends through the ice.

Buck’s Life in Paradise – The story of Adam and Eve can be compared to the story of Adam and Eve. Bucks life back at home seemed like paradise “There were great stables, where a dozen grooms and boys held forth, rows of vine-clad servants’ cottages, an endless and orderly array of out houses, long grape arbors, green pastures, or chards and berry patches”(5). It can be compared to the Garden of Eden that there was no sin or sickness, no stress or strain. It was heaven on earth. Just like Adam and Eve were kicked out of paradise, Buck was also.