The Klondike Gold Rush In The Call Of The Wild By Jack London

The Klondike Gold Rush was an impactful moment in history that influenced and affected the lives of the many people who went to the Yukon during the late 19th century. Many people quit their jobs in order to venture out to the Klondike in the search of gold. Although a large group went to find a fortune, few people succeeded. These people who traveled to the Yukon were forced to make adaptations to the new and dangerous dominion. The Yukon had a very cold climate; temperatures were dangerously low and the conditions were hazardous. This influenced the way that people lived, as these travelers had to adapt to the cold and harsh weather that was the present in the Yukon. Similar to these people, the main character Buck in The Call of the Wild by Jack London, is a dog who is abducted by a gardener and forced to work in the harsh Yukon.

He is one of many sled dogs that have to labor forcefully every day in solidarity in order to help his masters find gold.

Throughout the story, Buck develops many adaptations to the arctic environment, including those from his primordial ancestors. Buck as well as the other dogs are forced to form new routines and adapt to their environment in order to survive. Buck starts to become more primitive than civilized as the story progresses, for he begins to develop things that he had never possessed back when he lived in his more civilized domain with Judge Miller. In The Call of the Wild by Jack London, characters go through changes in the environment, routine and lifestyle, which results in the growth of their physical and mental strength, as well as their aptness to adapt and survive.
In The Call of the Wild, Buck is forced to adapt to a new environment and make changes to the way he lives; the change in environment affects the way that Buck develops as well as his

behavior throughout the story. As the story progresses, Buck picks up traits that he uses in the Yukon that he never had to use anywhere else. When London is describing Buck’s physical growth and adaptations during his time in the Yukon, he describes that “not only did he learn by experience, but instincts long dead became alive again. The domesticated generations fell from him. In vague ways he remembered back to the youth of the breed, to the time the wild dogs ranged in packs through the primeval forest and killed their meat as they ran it down” (London 22). Buck had these attributes stored within him for a while, yet he still managed to unlock them. Buck succeeded in surviving in the Yukon because he adjusted his physical traits. Henri Bergson argues that traits are passed down by one’s primordial ancestors. Bergson states that, “we feel vaguely that our past remains present to us” (Bergson). Bergson’s theory is shown in Buck, since Buck develops these new instincts that were “once long dead” from the “youth of the breed.” Buck's rediscovery of these primordial instincts relates to the theories of philosopher Henri Bergson, who hypothesize that species would inherit traits that their ancestors once had. Bergson states "we feel vaguely that our past remains present to us." In The Call of the Wild, Buck feels connected to his past as he unlocks these new attributes. Not only were these traits passed down, but these traits were developed because of the environment that was present. During Buck’s time in the Yukon, not only did he have physical growth, but he also grew and developed different mentalities and habits.
In the Yukon,, Buck had to make many adjustments to his routine in order to thrive in the Yukon. Buck lived a normal and laid-back life while living with Judge Miller; he was imperious among the others in the household. London describes how Buck was able to quickly regain his instincts from his . “They quickened the old life within him, and the old tricks which they had stamped into the heredity of the breed were his tricks. They came to him without effort or discovery, as though they had been his always” (London 22). These changes in his routine are what sparked the development as well as the finding of these characteristics, such as obedience and devotion . Buck exhibits these newly developed characteristics while he is in the Yukon as a result of adapting and changing himself in order to help him survive . This relates to Henri Bergson's point in Creative Evolution, where he explains how experiences affect how a person develops. “The circumstances may still be the same, but they will act no longer on the same person, since they find him at a new moment of his history”(Bergson). Organisms who go through experiences will never have the same experience again. Buck goes through certain experiences that he cannot clear from his memory: when he becomes a primitive being and breaks his ties with mankind, he cannot become civilized again. These experiences are learning when not to fight, seeing the caveman, as well as experiencing John Thornton’s death, which shaped how he changed his routine. In the novel, Buck has clearly changed his habits in order to adjust to his new environment.
The change in Buck’s lifestyle also impacted his aptness to adjust to his new surroundings as well as his inclination to survive. Because of this, he was able to repossess the qualities that his ancestors once needed for survival. Buck’s ancestors relied on gathering food through hunting as well as finding shelter in order to survive. These adjustments and aspects of life were a result of their knowledge of the environment and . Similar to his ancestors, Buck was forced to make changes to his normal habits and replace them with ones that would benefit his survival. When London is describing how Buck is regaining his traits from ancestors, he describes how “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 23). Buck adjusted to his surroundings by letting the primordial beast out of him. This happened because of his change in lifestyle, especially when he has physical changes in order to help him become a better sled dog. Buck changed from living a normal life where he ruled over his own dominion, to being a sled dog that has to follow every command that his master says. Before the Yukon, his life with Judge Miller was very luxurious, where he did not have to do much. The Yukon was a place with a dangerous environment, where Buck had to do everything he could to survive. He had to become stronger physically as well as mentally, learn how to gather food and learn how to create and find shelter. This is imperative to his survival because without these experiences; he would not be able to adjust to the given environment. Similar to Buck, Darwin has a theory in which he believes . These conditions led to Buck’s aptness to survive and change to the harsh land that the Yukon was.
London, Darwin and Bergson all describe how all organisms can have the “struggle for existence,” as well as how natural selection decides who survives in the given situation or habitat. The only way an organism can survive in new surroundings is through adaptations. If an organism chooses or cannot adapt to the new domain, they will not be able to live much longer. Buck is an example of an organism who thrived that had to go through changes in his surrounding conditions, changes in their normal life as well as changes in the way he lives. These changes ended up helping Buck survive and prosper. It helped make Buck stronger, smarter, more willing to survive, and more knowledgeable on how to survive. This directly relates to the real world in the workforce. For example, two people are competing for a new job, and only one of them make the adjustments that they need to in order to excel at that job. The person who puts in the time and effort to change their routine will get the job over the person who is not able to or does not want to adapt to the new setting. Through real life situations and The Call of the Wild it can be seen how changes foster an individual’s growth.