Isolationism In The Call Of The Wild

The Primordial Beast

The German-language writer of novels, Franz Kafka, once stated “Isolation is a way to know ourselves.”. The book The Call Of The Wild is a novel written by Jack London, an american novelist, journalist, and social activist. The novel takes place in California and Alaska where a dog, named Buck, is separated from his culture of being around and loyal to men and is forced to travel north and become a sled dog. In The Call Of The Wild, Buck is introduced to a desolate world of freezing temperatures and isolation that affects him by reviving the primitive character inside him, conveying the theme that harsh conditions force individuals to adapt and develop essential characters. Buck is exposed to a frozen land full of isolation

The isolated and extreme journey forced Buck to adapt to the environment and as a result “The dominant primordial beast was strong in Buck, and under the fierce conditions of trail life it grew and grew. Yet it was a secret growth”(London 17). All the abnormal conditions that Buck was experiencing on the journey forced the awakening Buck’s true character. The hidden primitive spirit of selfishness and savage conduct was the one he, and all his antecedents, had always had and needed to survive in extreme desolation. Buck’s primitive force helped him adapt, and thanks to it, “His muscles became hard as iron, and he grew callous to all ordinary pain. He achieved an internal as well as external economy”(London 16). The primordial character that the environment awakened made Buck evolve as an individual becoming immune to the ordinary pain as well as immune to ordinary thoughts and feelings that he once had. He revived and developed the skills he needed to survive in the harsh conditions, and involuntarily he changed his character completely from civilized and trained dog to a savage and independent