Character analysis of Buck
Jack London's 1903 classic, Call of the Wild, is an allegory about embracing primitive nature to overcome obstacles. The novel originally takes place on a ranch in California. The ranch is Owned by the Millers and they love their dog Buck. Buck a four year old mutt, part St. Bernard and German Shepard. One night Buck is stolen from the ranch by a worker, and is sold as a sled dog. Buck must face challenges and change as a character in order to survive the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness. Throughout the novel Call of the Wild, Buck undergoes a character change, going from a pampered pet to a leader of a wolf pack.
Buck’s transformation from a domesticated pet to a leader of the wolf pack parallels the theme of nature
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Buck’s last owner, John Thornton was his most loved and respected. John acted as Bucks last tie to civilization and once he was killed there was nothing left keeping him from the wild. When John and his crew first found the thousands of dollars of gold buried beneath a creek bed Buck had nothing to do. Bucks internal conflict between staying civilized and becoming wild strengthens. London uses a character conflict (person v self) within Buck, a fight between civilization and the wild. Buck starts wander off “he hunts small game and huge animals (such as moose), but he never entirely loses his connection with John Thornton” (Evans 1) until one day after being away from camp Buck comes back to find Thorton dead. When Buck sees John dead he loses control. Buck kills many of the tribe members in order to avenge Thornton. Here Buck reverts back to what his instincts tell him to do and joins a pack of wolves. London's uses of foreshadowing throughout the novel made Bucks transformation inevitable. “London Foreshadows Buck’s eventual complete return to the wild by his visions of primitive men sitting by a fire, a kind of racial memory more explicit than a simple instinct” (D’Ammassa). Bucks call to the primitive ways is why London named the novel Call of the Wild. The message London is depicting, is that people can become as civilized as they want yet when challenged they will always revert back to their roots. In the …show more content…
Throughout the novel London uses Buck to depict and emphasise the difference between the wild and civilization. No matter how civilized people and animals become there will always be a call to the wild. To reach his full potential buck had to overcome many obstacles and setbacks. Buck character in Call of the wild went from being a domesticated dog to a blood thirsty wolf.
Works Cited
D'Ammassa, Don. "The Call of the Wild." Encyclopedia of Adventure Fiction. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2008. Bloom's Literature, Facts On File, Inc. www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&WID=96783&SID=5&iPin=EAdvF019&SingleRecord=True.Accessed 28 April 2017.
Evans, Robert C., gen. ed. "The Call of the Wild." The American Novel, Understanding Literature through Close Reading. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2011. Bloom's Literature, Facts On File, Inc. www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&WID=96783&SID=5&iPin=ULAN0051&SingleRecord=True.Accessed 27 April 2017.
London, Jack. Call of the Wild, Puffin books
In The Call of the Wild, Buck has a theoretical relationship with a man like no other relationship. The man, John Thornton, is a real outdoorsy, diligent man that knows how to treat fierceful canines right. John Thornton is Buck’s ideal master, and they never let each other out of their site (117). For example, when Buck hears his ancestors and other keen, primordial, primitive wolves howling for him to join the pack, at first, the dog simply denies it and stays at John Thornton’s camp near the mouth of the White River. Why would Buck not want to join his wolf friends? It is because Buck has the most unrealistic relationship and such love for just a man, meaning he would stay inside of his comfort zone with John Thornton, rather than joining the call of wildness (115). Having the evidence of Buck not joining his wolf friends and staying with a man proves Jack London is a nature faker due to his bogus writings of a
One of Buck's Internal Conflict is choosing between a master or a wolf pack(love of John Thornton and the Call of the wild).
First off, Buck shows an act of heroism when he backs up and defends John Thornton at a bar. A very evil-tempered and malicious man named Burton was trying to pick a fight with the tenderfoot at the bar, and John Thornton came in between the two men. Without warning, Burton struck Thornton across the face. Instantly Buck hurled himself into Burton. “Those who were looking on heard what was neither bark nor yelp, but a something which is best described as a roar, and they saw Buck’s body rise up in the air as he left the floor for Burton’s throat” (87). Buck had to be pried off of Burton, so he didn’t kill him. Buck almost killed a man who only punched Thornton. If Buck had no civilization in him like critics said, he wouldn’t have defended his master. It even said in the book, “But his reputation was made, and from that day his name spread through every camp in Alaska” (87). This reputation he made was, “If you set a finger on John Thornton and Buck was around, be ready to get your head ripped off”. The only reason he had this reputation was because of the intense love he had for his owner, and a
A. “Hills Like White Elephants.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Gen. ed. -. Kelly J. Mays. 11th ed.
Perkins, George B., and Barbara Perkins. "The Beast in the Jungle." The American Tradition in Literature (concise). 12th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009. 1148-1177. Print.
From all of the wonders of the world not one doesn’t have a message. The Call of The Wild has a message under the darkness of the book. Is book is about a dog, named Buck, this poor dog is part of the Alaskan frontier . Which is a historical event when the U.S. purchased Alaska.
The novel, The Call of the Wild, follows a four-year-old mixed Saint Bernard and Scottish shepherd, named Buck. In the beginning of the story, Buck lives in the home of Judge Miller, located at Santa Clara Valley, California. In Santa Clara, Buck lives a luxurious life. At the time of the story, gold is discovered in the North. With this discovery, the value of large dogs like Buck escalated dramatically. The dog’s value was due most to their ability to haul heavy sleds through the abundant snow. Unfortunately, Judge Miller’s servant, Manuel steals Buck to sell him to a band of dog-nappers to pay for his accumulating gambling debts. The ring of thieves that bought Buck is gaining a secure banking by trading the dog to northern executives. Buck, who has had an easy life so far, does not adapt well to the terrain as the other canines do. Buck does not easily tolerate the confinement and mistreatment of his new authority. Buck’s gains the misconception, which then is an aide that any man with a club is a dominator and must be obeyed.
The Call of the Wild, by Jack London, is a classic piece of American literature. The novel follows the life of a dog named Buck as his world changes and in turn forces him to become an entirely new dog. Cruel circumstances require Buck to lose his carefree attitude and somewhat peaceful outlook on life. Love then enters his life and causes him to see life through new eyes. In the end, however, he must choose between the master he loves or the wildness he belongs in.
When Buck comes back to camp he finds the Yeehats have attacked and killed everyone and all the dogs. Buck then rages and kills the Yeehats with the realization afterwards that, “He had killed man the noblest game of all, and he had killed in the face of the law of club and fang”(London 102). Buck has mentally adapted to the way of life and to the laws he learned. Such as the law of club and fang, once a dog is down that is the end of him and that dogs and men are savages. Buck transforms from a pampered house dog with a lavish life to a wolf with a mind of a leader and a mind of a hunter. His physical adaptations help him survive in this life he has been given and help satisfy his new self.Buck becomes a leader and a true wolf through his adaptations. In the end of the novel Buck finds a wolf pack and shows dominance he then sits down and joins the pack howling. And Buck “ran with them, side by side with the wild brother, yelping as he ran”(London ).Buck becomes one with the wild and changes from a pampered house pet in the beginning of the story to this wolf leader in the end. Buck becomes a legend. When he first met the wolf pack some tried to fight him but Buck won and they ended up accepting them as one of their own, as a wolf. Without all of the mental and physical adaptations Buck had he would not have gained their respect and been accepted as wolf, as a great leader and become this great
Jack London wrote the novel The Call of the Wild; it was also his first success (Feast). The Call of the Wild is an exciting beast fable which dramatizes the unforgiving harshness of existence but shows that suffering can lead to heroic self-awareness (Buckner). London was big on the philosophical idea of Naturalism. As well as having links with literary naturalism, "The Call of the Wild is also a mythical book informed throughout with such traditional myths as the Myth of the Hero." Although Buck is always a dog throughout the story, his predicament is highly relevant to the human condition in a novel beginning with concise patterns of description and moving toward an increasingly lyrical style (Williams). The protagonist of The Call of the Wild is a dog named Buck. He's part German Sheppard and half Saint Bernard, he's labeled the "hero" of the story. The story takes place primarily in the Klondike region of Alaska except for in the first chapter it takes place in the Santa Clara Valley of California. The story is centrally focused around Buck; if it wasn't for him not having any speaking parts the reader would think he was a human because of the personality traits he possesses. In this paper we will discuss traits such as Buck's ability to adapt, Buck's bravery, his mental and physical strength, his loyalty and love and his instinct of the wild.
The Call of the Wild, on the surface, is a story about Buck, a four- year old dog that is part Shepherd and part St. Bernard. More importantly, it is a naturalistic tale about the survival of the fittest in nature. Throughout the novel, Buck proves that he is fit and can endure the law of the club, the law of the fang, and the laws of nature.
In The Call of the Wild, Buck finds comfort in his relationships with man. When he is initially removed from Judge Miller's house in Santa Clara Valley, he is given his first exposure to the wild where, "every moment life and limb were in peril" (London 31). But soon he finds himself not entirely ready to leave civilization and answer the call of the wild, because he must first experience love. Buck establishes a relationship with John Thornton, and "love, genuine passionate love, was his for the fir...
Throughout the novella London uses various figurative language techniques to portray Buck’s gain of knowledge of the wild. From the beginning of the novella Buck’s life is easy and calm, then when he is forced to become a sled dog he is disorientated and is confused to what is happening. He progressively learns more things about the real world and starts to understand it. At the start of the novella London shows that at Judge Miller’s house he is the king and he is the one in charge. This is show when London writes “And over this great demesne Buck ruled.”. Lat...
When Jack London created the dynamic character Buck in The Call of the Wild, he made the dog in his
Letter 2 Dear, Shaan Hello Shaan, and for my fiction report I am reading a book called “Call of the Wild” by Jack London . It was originally published in 1903. In my opinion, this book is really good, and I have enjoyed it quite thoroughly, and it is something that I would consider as a masterpiece of literature. This book is so good I decided to recommend it to you.