Home:

:

 

 

___________________________

STUDYWORLD STUDYNOTES

The Call of the Wild

Jack London led a life crammed with violence and adventure, both of which were transferred into his writing. He had virtually no childhood, starting work at age ten. At fifteen he became a hobo; at sixteen, an oyster pirate and longshoreman. Joining the Alaskan gold rush at nineteen, London hiked across the United States and Canada to the Klondike. He found no gold, but later used some of his Northland experiences to draft The Call of the Wild.

In Buck, the "hero" of the novel, The Call of the Wild, London endows all of the cunning and savagery that he feels lurks not only in animals, but in human beings as well. Buck's transformation into a ferocious animal is London's attempt to argue his "survival of the fittest" philosophy; the potential primitive beast he feels lies within each individual. However, London's great love for animals and nature inspired him to also write of the loyalty, affection, and excitement experienced by Buck. This adventuresome, emotion-packed novel seems to capture all of these qualities in a powerful way.