Examples Of Altruism In The Call Of The Wild

In the entertaining novel, The Call of The Wild, by Jack London, a spoiled dog named Buck from a wealthy family is kidnapped and used as a sled dog by many teams as he explains how his wolf-like instincts present themselves as he journeys across Alaska. Our essay explains some of the many ways that Jack London uses the virtue of humanity in his novel. (Merriam Webster Dictionary,) humanity is a virtue associated with the ethics of altruism derived from the human condition. Humility differs from mere justice in that there is a level of altruism towards individuals included in humanity more so than the fairness found in justice. This means that humanity is the act of having selfless concern for the well being of others.

While reading this

novel you will see that people both civilized and uncivilized have moral standards. One of which is Mercedes, she does things for herself and would rather have everything easier on her instead of thinking about what would benefit the team. For example on page ninety three Mercedes shows her selfishness, while getting ready for the trip the group tries to discard things, but Mercedes stubbornly cries through it and complains. “Mercedes threw up her hand up in a dainty dismay.” Page one hundred five said that Mercedes, “No longer considered the dogs, and because she was cold and tired she persisted on riding on the sled.” On the other hand John Thorton is a man of good values because he stood up for Buck while he was being beaten by Hal. This showed he felt Buck’s pain because he loved him. “Thorton knelt beside him and with rough, kindly hands searched him for broken bones.” Thorton was also a loving man because Thorton knew how to win Buck’s love. Buck loved it when Thorton talked to him. “He cursed him long and fervently, and softly and lovingly.”
Animals also have a virtue of humanity.

Buck is a great example of this; he is a smart, passionate, loyal, friendly, tireless, fierce friend. When Buck was with Francois and Perrault, they tried to show Buck who the boss was by beating him with a club. This made Buck angry, “Bitter rage was his, but never blind rage.” Buck showed he had good virtue of humanity because despite being beaten, he still hung in there and lead the team of dogs. Buck also jumped into a river to save John Thorton’s life on page one hundred twenty eight; this was an act of selflessness and sacrifice because Buck almost lost his own life in the process. “The rope thus tightening on him in the sweep of the current, he was jerked under the surface and under the surface he remained till his body struck against the bank and he was hauled out. He was half drowned.” Page one hundred thirty seven shows that Buck has a good virtue of humanity because he was willing to do anything to make sure his owner was happy. Thornton bet that Buck could pull a sled one thousand pounds from a stationary position. Buck did this for the love of his owner and he took this challenge with pride. “Muscles writhing and knotting like live things under the silky fur.” And he did not fail to impress his owner. At the end of the story when Buck moved on after his owner was murdered that showed that Buck loved his owner. Buck turned to rage because his owner was inappropriately killed. He also showed that Buck knew that it was time

for him to move on. “The leaders lifted the yelp of the pack and sprang away into the woods. The wolves swung in behind, yelping in chorus. And Buck rang with them, side by side with the wild brother, yelping as he ran.”
Having a virtue of humanity also knows when it is time to move on for the good of the team, but also feel the sorrow of a lost one. For example, on page twenty six, one of the pack dogs dies because of getting beaten by Spitz; Spitz was laughing which mad Buck sad, kind of like when a human dies other people are sad. In addition to, on page eighty five to eighty six a member of the team was injured and suffering because of his old age. He wanted more than anything to continue on with the team, but he was slowing them down too much. The team leaders let him run with the team because that was all he wanted to do. Eventually the leaders shot Dave and put his out of his misery. This was a good example of virtue of humanity because they did not do this because they were evil, they did not want Dave to suffer. The last virtue of humanity was when Hal shot many members of the team. He shot these animals because they were weak. This showed that Hal was evil; Buck knew the team had to carry on.
In the beginning of the book when Buck was the leader of his domain with Judge Miller he was a leader. Around the middle of the book, Buck lead many of the teams that he was on. Towards the end of the book Buck lead his pack in the wilderness.