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An opinion paper on the call of the wild
Call of the wild summary essay
An opinion paper on the call of the wild
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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.
Buck had been raised in California, on the ranch of Judge Miller. There he had the run of the place and was loved and pampered by all. Unfortunately, one of the judge's workers had a gambling problem and stole Buck to sell him for fifty dollars. Buck fights being tied, caged, and beaten, but his efforts only frustrate him. He is put on a train and a boat, being shipped to Alaska to be used as a sled dog. Although he is miserable on the journey, Buck learns an important lesson - the law of the club. If he does not obey, he will be beaten.
In Alaska, Buck is sold to become a sled dog. Intelligent and hard working, he quickly learns to adapt to his new life. He becomes a good sled dog, working as part of the team; he also learns how to protect himself from the miserable cold, burrowing under the snow, and how to find food, stealing if necessary. He also learns he must always be alert, for there are dangers everywhere. Additionally, Buck learns the law of the whip, for if he does not obey the driver or do his fair share of pulling, he will be popped.
Buck also learns the law of the fang. Unlike the domesticated dogs at Judge Miller's ...
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
This is his first time and he has to try to keep up. So he struggles to keep up, and he does. Then later on in the book he is about 10 and wants a dog of his own so he can win money in dog field trials and hunts. He only two dollars and a hunting pup is about 15 dollars. So he goes up to uncle Lloyds house because he hears dogs barking and wants to see what’s going on.
In the book Into The Wild the main character Alex did some questionable things. Although he did some unusual things, he was sane. Alex was well educated and highly respected by everyone who knew him.
Through journal entries, highlighted passages, stories of people’s encounters, and personal experiences, author Jon Krakauer attempts to reconstruct the life of a young transcendentalist man named Chris Johnson McCandless in the biographical novel Into the Wild. McCandless was a 24-year-old young man who completely severed his connection to the world, his family, and all of his tangible possessions in hope to survive off the land in Alaska. In the two years that led to his Alaskan Odyssey McCandless created a new life for himself and lived by the name Alexander Supertramp, in hope to leave his old life behind. Krakauer starts his novel “Into the Wild” by bluntly revealing to the audience that he had only survived 113 days and his remains were found two weeks after preceding his death. Rather than focusing on McCandless death, Krakauer focused on his life. Although Krakauer is biased, he proves to be a credible biographer and proves the assertions he made in his authors note.
Sometimes a character may be pushed over the edge by our materialistic society to discover his/her true roots, which can only be found by going back to nature where monetary status was not important. Chris McCandless leaves all his possessions and begins a trek across the Western United States, which eventually brings him to the place of his demise-Alaska. Jon Krakauer makes you feel like you are with Chris on his journey and uses exerts from various authors such as Thoreau, London, and Tolstoy, as well as flashbacks and narrative pace and even is able to parallel the adventures of Chris to his own life as a young man in his novel Into the Wild. Krakauer educates himself of McCandless’ story by talking to the people that knew Chris the best. These people were not only his family but the people he met on the roads of his travels- they are the ones who became his road family.
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...
like a real wolf, and he even would be strong enough to beat a wolf at
The law of club and fang applies to all creatures. Both man and animal are lured by the attractive forces of their ancestry. It is up to them to decide if they are willing to submit to the call and embrace their primitive nature. The Call of the Wild enlightens readers with a story about a dog who yields to said call and renounces his domesticated ways. Jack London juxtaposes the events in The Call of the Wild with those in his life by creating characters that are indicative of mankind, and incorporating the themes of heredity and the influence of the environment on both man and animal and double meanings of places and characters in the novel.
In April of 1992 a young man named Chris McCandless, from a prosperous and loving family, hitchhiked across the country to Alaska. He gave $25,000 of his savings to charity, left his car and nearly all of his possessions. He burned all the cash he had in his wallet, and created a new life. Four months later, his body was found in an abandoned bus. Jon Krakauer constructed a journalistic account of McCandless’s story. Bordering on obsession, Krakauer looks for the clues to the mystery that is Chris McCandless. What he finds is the intense pull of the wilderness on our imagination, the appeal of high-risk activities to young men. When McCandless's mistakes turn out to be fatal he is dismissed for his naiveté. He was said by some to have a death wish, but wanting to die and wanting to see what one is capable of are too very different things. I began to ask myself if Chris really wasn’t as crazy as some people thought. Then I realized it was quite possible that the reason people thought he was crazy was because he had died trying to fulfill his dream. If he had walked away from his adventure like Krakauer, people would have praised him rather than ridicule. So I asked the question, “How does Krakauer’s life parallel Chris McCandlesses?”
As a student in Introduction to Literature I have had the opportunity to engage in reading and writing from the books listed: The Call of the Wild, Harry Potter and the sorcerer’s, and I know why the cage bird sings. These books have taught me that a message could be delivered in many perspectives. I have learned that a book is more than a story being told. It is up to the reader imagination to take then to that magical place. From these books I have choose to challenge myself to critic The Call of the wild by Jack London. It is an outstanding book that could be a positive feature for fifth grader to college students. The best thing about this book is that your view will change as you get older and wiser. For example I read this book in sixth grade and then again as a third year student and my views have change. Presently this book informs me that one’s life may end up different then the life they started. Also you change depends on the world that surrounds them such as people, environment, and life experiences just to name a few. I believe that The Call of the Wild is one of the best books written, because it educate the readers that throughout life you will continue to learn and be thought. In this paper I will explain Social Darwinist and the terms, technique I us to base the true agenda, and agree my thesis represented by quotes from the book. I will tackle number 3 for this take home midterm.
The Call Of The Wild is a novel written by Jack London that tells of a dog named Buck as he slowly transforms from a mundane house dog to a vigorous wolf like his ancestors before him as he pulls a sled across the icy tundras of northern Canada. Throughout this story there is a common theme of Buck having to adapt to his environment in order to overcome hardships that may have lead to his death.Everyone can relate to this theme. No matter who you are there is a time where one must adapt to a situation whether it being getting a flat tire in the middle of the road to breaking a bone. They are changes you have to deal with in order to move along with your life.
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.
In life, people tend to talk up a big game about many things, and sometimes they can be used to hide someone’s insecurity or fear. But what is a dog who is all bark and no bite? Just as in the short story “The Sacrifice of the Hunted,” by Andrew Smock, the main character Buck begins the story as rude and cocky towards the narrator about his hunting skills, but after a deer is actually killed, he gets a greater understanding of his true feelings about hunting. This is illustrated through out the short story in many instances. From the time Buck is addressed in the story to until the deer is shot he makes fun of the narrator for not knowing much about hunting. When the deer is shot, Buck seems to get a stronger understanding of how he truly
Buck is a product of his environment. He has lived a comfortable life as the pet of a wealthy judge in Santa Clara, California since his birth. He believes himself to be the ruler of this vast estate, as London implies when he writes “…he was king-- king over all creeping, crawling, flying things of Judge Miller’s place, humans included (2).” The respect Buck receives from everyone at the judge’s home leads him to be a very proud and dignified animal. London says that “He had a fine pride in himself, was ever a trifle egotistical, as country gentlemen sometimes become because of their insular situation (3).” Judge Miller’s land is also ideal for Buck to keep himself in good shape, which is the main reason for his pride. London says “But he had saved himself by not becoming a mere pampered house-dog. Hunting and...
Buck is a privileged, dignified dog who is taken from his southern Californian home and shipped to Alaska during the 1890's Gold Rush. Along the way, Buck is mistreated by a series of owners, and he learns to survive as a member of a dog sled team. As a result, Buck soon realizes that in these more primitive settings, "the law of club and fang" overrides the rules of civilized society. With each new experience Buck regresses, or reverts to a more primitive state. Finally, an experience of loss challenges Buck's last ties to civilization.