"Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide-water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair.." Jack London's book The Call of the Wild captures your attention as he takes you along on Buck's brumal journey across the Yukon. Just at the end of chapter one you find yourself wanting to read more and more as you are rooting for Buck as he fights the struggles against nature, enemies, and his human masters.
Jack London wrote his book The Call of the Wild from Buck, the St. Bernard-Scotch Shepard dogs, point of view instead of from the normal human perspective. "Never in all his life had he been so vilely treated, and never in all his life had he been so angry." (Chapter 1, page 13) I enjoyed reading this story from Buck's perspective because it allowed me to really connect to Buck and understand exactly what he was thinking and feeling. "Like his mates, he was barely able to get up, but, unlike them, he had made up his mind not to get up." (Chapter 5, page 54) If it had been told from his master's or anybody else's point of view we would not have known what was wrong with Buck. More than likely, based on the situation, we would have assumed Hal had badly injured Buck while beating him with the whip and club to the point where he could not get up even if he wanted to. "While he went wild with happiness when Thornton touched him or spoke to him, he did not seek these tokens." (Chapter 6, page 58) This give us an inside look on the demonstrative relationship between Buck and John Thorton. Without it we would not be able to know the true connection between these two.
The author does a great job of describing the characters. At the end of the book you feel as if these dogs and people were real and that this story actually took place. "..for he was king-king over all creeping, crawling, flying things of Judge Miller's place, humans included." (Chapter 1, page 12) The way he described Buck at the very beginning shows you what Buck's personality was like perfectly before he was dognapped. London showed you that Buck was not ferine at all. "On the other hand, possibly because he divined in Buck a dangerous rival, Spitz never lost an opportunity of showing his teeth. He even went out of his way to bully Buck, striving constantly to start the fight which could end only in the death of one or the other." (Chapter 3, page 27) London could not have set up Spitz in any better way. From this moment you knew that Buck and Spitz would always be enemies. "John Thornton stood over Buck, struggling to control himself, too convulsed with rage to speak. 'If you strike that dog again, I'll kill you," he at last managed to say in a choking voice.'" (Chapter 5, page 54) For the first time this shows you how good of a person John Thorton was and how good of a master he would be to Buck.
The Call of the Wild is about overcoming all the hardships of life, learning to adapt, and moving on. ".a man with a club was a lawgiver a master to be obeyed.." (Chapter 1, page 16) Buck had to realize that in order to survive he could not be "king", he had to obey someone else for a change. "He watched and learned. When he saw Pike, one of the new dogs, a clever malingerer and thief, slyly steal a slice of bacon when Perrault's back was turned, he duplicated the performance the following day, getting away with the whole chunk." (Chapter 2, page 23-24) Once again, Buck was learning new ways to survive in this new terrain. "John Thorton was dead. The last tie was broken." (Chapter 7, page 76) Buck had to overcome the death of the only master he had truely loved and move on with the rest of his life.
I reccomend this book to anyone who is an animal lover. Buck's intense journey will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next.
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