London’s Call finds Buck returning to his Wild

Next up on the list is a book that remains a standard in elementary/middle school literature: The Call of the Wild by Jack London. A short novel, it follows a dog, Buck, who is “dog-napped” because of his large size, and taken from his home in California up to the Canadian Yukon territory, to serve as a sled puller during the Klondike gold rush. Having previously led a life of comfort, Buck is faced with the cruel and demanding conditions of a harsh landscape, kill-or-be-killed confrontations with other dogs, and the whims of his human masters. After a few terrible moments early in his new life, Buck is able to assert his dominance in great part due to his size, strength, and cunning, but ultimately he loses all semblance of the docile animal he used to be. Buck’s existence becomes a stream of changing owners, some kind but firm, others dumb and unready for the unforgiving climate. Along the way, he makes friends and enemies alike among the other dogs, but sadly it seems none survive long in such an environment. When his last, loving human master dies, Buck heads off into the wild to rule over wolves and wild dogs.

For such a short book (the paperback I read was just 130 pages long), there are a lot of evident themes to ponder, the most prominent for me being the obvious nature vs nurture argument. Buck comes from a life of privilege but finds it easy to become a master hunter and killer when the need arises. London also continually strikes home the law of survival of the fittest, as Buck fights first against Spitz, the old and cruel leader of Buck’s first pack, and later against other animals and humans. Weakened or sick dogs are put down so as to not hold up the rest of the group. This is a fun, quick read, and was a welcome respite from my last couple long and at times tedious book reads.