The Call of the Wild Book Review

Buck was both born and brought up in a big house in sunny Santa Clara. When he was four years old, he was sold by a disloyal servant to some traffickers. This was in the fall of 1897, when the gold rush had just begun in the frozen North. Thousands of men were rushing northwards to try their luck, and they desperately needed dogs. Heavy dogs with strong muscles…   Though Buck resisted, he was violently beaten with a club, and he understood that further resistance was futile. But his spirit was not broken. He was finally sold to a tanned giant who went by the name of Francois. The dogs (and men) of the frontier were not town dogs or men. They were brute savages, who knew no law but the law of club and fang. Buck learned early on that if he went down, that would be the end of him. And he was determined that he would never go down.

Francois fastened a harness of straps and buckles (similar to the one put on horses) on him, who had never had to work for a living. In this environment, it almost seemed natural that dogs had to work, just as horses had to work in Santa Clara. Though the work was hard he did not hate it. Buck had found that it was less expensive to change his ways than to retaliate against his masters. He asked nothing, gave nothing, and expected nothing.

Buck was hungry most of the time, as he never seemed to have enough rations. He even stole food, because his stomach demanded it.

To survive in the severe environment, Buck had to adapt and adjust himself to the hostile conditions. Had he not done so, it would have meant a swift and terrible death for him. His gentle upbringing was a handicap in this ruthless struggle for survival, amidst the toil, the frost, and the starvation.

Not only did Buck learn from experience, but long dead instincts came alive again. The domestication of generations past faded away.  It could even be argued that he came into his own. Buck endured. He was even gripped by an incomprehensible pride in his work that comes from forgetfulness of living. 

Buck wanted the leadership of the pack. Buck wanted it because it was part of his nature, just as natural as sounding the old wolf-cry. But to gain the leadership of the pack, he would have to fight for it. And it would have to be a fight to the finish. Buck fought by instinct, but he could also use his head. Bloodied but victorious, it was his by right. He had earned it, and he would not be satisfied with anything less.