CALL OF THE WILD – Jack London
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
Jack London was an American novelist and short-story writer whose works deal
romantically with elemental struggles for survival. He is one of the most extensively
translated of American authors. He was born Jan. 12, 1876, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.—died
Nov. 22, 1916, Glen Ellen, Calif.
Deserted by his father, a roving astrologer, London was raised in Oakland, Calif., by his
spiritualist mother and his stepfather, whose surname, London, he took. At 14 he quit
school to escape poverty and gain adventure. He explored San Francisco Bay in his sloop,
alternately stealing oysters or working for the government fish patrol. He went to Japan as
a sailor and saw much of the United States riding freight trains and as a member of Kelly's
industrial army (one of the many protest armies of unemployed born of the panic of 1893). He saw depression
conditions, was jailed for vagrancy, and in 1894 became a militant socialist. London educated himself at public
libraries with the writings of Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Nietzsche, usually in popularized forms, and
created his own amalgam of socialism and white superiority. At 19 he crammed a four-year high school course into
one year and entered the University of California at Berkeley, but after a year he quit school to seek a fortune in the
Klondike gold rush of 1897. Returning the next year, still poor and unable to find work, he decided to earn a living
as a writer.
London studied magazines and then set himself a daily schedule of producing sonnets, ballads,
jokes, anecdotes, adventure stories, or horror stories, steadily increasing his output. The
optimism and energy with which he attacked his task are best conveyed in his
autobiographical novel Martin Eden (1909), perhaps his most enduring work. Within two
years stories of his Alaskan adventures, though often crude, began to win acceptance for their
fresh subject matter and virile force. His first book, The Son of the Wolf (1900), gained a wide
audience. During the remainder of his life he produced steadily, completing 50 books of fiction
and nonfiction in 17 years.
Although he became the highest-paid writer in the United States, his earnings never matched
his expenditures, and he was never freed of the urgency of writing for money. He sailed a
ketch to the South Pacific, telling of his adventures in The Cruise of the Snark (1911). In 1910
he settled on a ranch near Glen Ellen, Calif., where he built his grandiose Wolf House. He maintained his socialist
beliefs almost to the end of his life.
Jack London's hastily written output is of uneven quality. His Alaskan stories Call of the Wild (1903), White Fang
(1906), and Burning Daylight (1910), in which he dramatized in turn atavism, adaptability, and the appeal of the
wilderness, are outstanding. Other important works are The Sea Wolf (1904), which features a Nietzschean
superman hero, and The Iron Heel (1907), a fantasy of the future that is a terrifying anticipation of fascism.
London's reputation declined in the United States in the 1920s when a brilliant new generation of postwar writers
made the prewar writers seem lacking in sophistication, but his popularity has remained high throughout the
world, especially in Russia, where a commemorative edition of his works published in 1956 was reported to have
been sold out in five hours. He sold the rights to The Call of the Wild for about $2,750 and the novel has been
translated into dozens of languages and has sold millions of copies.
Though the circumstances of London’s death are somewhat controversial, he probably died from kidney disease.
He was only forty years old when he died, but he had achieved a great deal in his lifetime. Translations of his works
are still widely read all over the world.
Pre-AP STUDY GUIDE – CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
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CALL OF THE WILD – Jack London
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
LIST OF CHARACTERS
Buck: Part Scotch shepherd, part St. Bernard; main character in the novel.
Judge: Buck’s original owner; gives Buck the domesticated life he thinks he loves.
Perrault: French Canadian who buys Buck first; “a little weazened man who spat broken English and many strange
and uncouth exclamations which Buck could not understand.”
François: Swarthy French Canadian who teams with Perrault.
Curly: Good-natured Newfoundland bought by Perrault.
Spitz: Treacherously friendly, underhanded (-pawed) white dog.
Dave: Experienced dog that primarily eats and sleeps and just wants to be left alone.
Sol-leks: The Angry One, blind in one eye, also wants to be left alone.
Hal: A callow nineteen/twenty-year old with revolver and belt with many cartridges on it.
Charles: Middle-aged, light-colored man with weak eyes and moustache that covers a drooping lip.
Mercedes: Charles’ wife and Hal’s sister.
John Thornton: Owner of a camp at the base of the White River; saves Buck from being killed when Buck refuses
to pull Hal’s sled.
Skeet: Irish Setter at John Thornton’s camp who tends to Buck’s injuries.
Nig: Good-natured half-Bloodhound, half-deerhound at Thornton’s camp.
“Black” Burton: “Evil-tempered and malicious” man, attacked by Buck when Thornton is hit while trying to break
up a fight.
SETTING
The Klondike gold rush, as it came to be called, attracted thousands
of hopeful miners. Many came by ship to Skagway, Alaska, where
they purchased supplies at inflated prices and outfitted themselves
for the trip north. Winter was the easiest season during which to
travel because the rivers were frozen, but winter temperatures
regularly registered 50 degrees below zero. During the summer,
humans and animals were attacked by swarms of mosquitoes and
flies. Few miners came away wealthy. Many who actually did find
gold spent it all while celebrating in boomtowns such as Dawson
City. Merchants and opportunists were all too ready to accept gold
dust and nuggets from miners who were happy to show off their
good fortune. Miners were often the target of lawless men who were
willing to rob or murder to get a share of the riches.
In addition to the hazards of boomtowns were the dangers of
wilderness travel. The elements claimed many victims as
inexperienced prospectors froze, starved, or got lost in the forests
and snowfields. The territory’s rushing rivers also claimed many
victims.
BACKGROUND
Klondike Fever!
A few flakes of gold in a muddy creek started it all. The year was 1896. Deep in the Klondike River Valley in
northwestern Canada, prospector Robert Henderson sloshed the water and sand out of his pan and saw gold at the
bottom. Soon a few found more gold and they staked a claim to the site they called Bonanza Creek.
A year later, residents of Seattle and San Francisco were astounded to see ships returning with grizzled miners
carrying sacks of gold over their shoulders. Over the next two years, over 100,000 hopeful people sold their
possessions, said good-bye to their loved ones, and set out for the frozen north. Only about 1 in 5 of them ever
made it to the gold fields.
Pre-AP STUDY GUIDE – CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
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CALL OF THE WILD – Jack London
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
Did You Know?
In The Call of the Wild, Jack London writes about his main character, the dog Buck, as if the dog were human. The
formal name for giving human qualities to animals is anthropomorphism. This word comes from the Greek words
for “human” and “form.” To anthropomorphize something is to give it human form, or human characteristics.
London doesn’t have Buck speak or walk upright, but he does give the dog human thoughts and emotions. As
humans, we relate to those thoughts and emotions and accept them. As readers, we identify closely with Buck
because we feel the same anger, the same surprise, and the same fear.
The End of the Nineteenth Century
In the novel, the nineteenth century is nearly over. As thousands of people head for the goldfields in Canada and
Alaska, what are other Americans doing and thinking about? The final decades of the nineteenth century are
considered a time of growth and change. The population of the United States increased by more than fifty percent
from 1880 to 1900. Much of this increase was due to immigration. People from Europe came to the United States in
record numbers.
During this period, Americans began to use machines to do their work. Industrialization spread quickly. Ways of
doing things changed. Small factories became larger and produced more goods, creating more jobs for people. At
home, machines also helped with everyday tasks.
Packing It In
What did it take (besides courage and will) to survive for a year or more in a harsh climate where the temperature
easily reached 50 degrees below zero? One miner’s supplies could weigh as much as 2,000 pounds. Here’s a partial
list of items a prospector might need, as suggested by the newspapers and guidebooks of the time:



Food: flour (150 pounds), bacon (150 pounds), beans (100 pounds), dried fruit (75 pounds), rice (25
pounds), butter (25 pounds), sugar (100 pounds), coffee and tea (25 pounds).
Clothing: 2 corduroy suits, 3 pair of rubber boots, 3 pairs of heavy shoes, 3 dozen heavy woolen socks, 3
pairs of heavy woolen gloves, 3 suits of heavy underwear, 4 heavy woolen shirts.
Equipment: tent, frying pan, coffeepot, matches, candles, medicine chest, pickaxe, shovel, axe, saw, gold
pans, stove, nails, extra straps of leather (16 pounds).
Study guide directions: As we read, you will completely answer the following questions on your own paper. You
will benefit from this as it will help you keep track of events and people’s actions in the story and it will help you
review for the test and essay to come. You will also turn this in at the end of the unit for a grade (counts twice).
Chapter 1
1. Describe Judge Miller’s estate where Buck reigned.
2. Why did Manuel kidnap Buck?
3. Identify the man in the red sweater and how he ‘trained’ Buck. What important thing did Buck learn?
4. Who bought Buck and what does he think Buck is worth?
5. How did Buck travel with his new owners and where did he go?
6. Why is this chapter called Into the Primitive?
Pre-AP STUDY GUIDE – CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
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CALL OF THE WILD – Jack London
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
A Miner’s Best Friend
The most valuable possessions of a Klondiker were sled dogs. Sled dogs are often called ‘huskies,’ a corrupt version
of the Algonquin word for Eskimo, esky. Many breeds were put to work in the Yukon, including purebred Siberian
huskies, samoyeds, Alaskan malamutes, and a variety of mixed breeds. The huge number of prospectors drove up
the demand for heavy-coated sled dogs who were intelligent, loyal, generally large and powerful.
Buck adjusted, but he suffered because he was not an Arctic dog. Arctic dogs are well-adapted for trekking across
ice and snow. Their wide, flat feet are like small snowshoes, well-padded and cushioned with hair between the
toes. On very rough terrain, smart sledders covered their valuable dogs’ feet with canvas for extra protection. The
dogs and drivers travel “comfortably” on days that are –50°F. That is far colder than most of us could stand. At that
temperature, exposed flesh freezes in a manner of minutes. The drivers would have been wrapped and bundled
from head to toe.
Chapter 2
1. Explain why was Buck's first day at his new destination like a nightmare?
2. What happened to Curly? What did Buck learn from this experience?
3. Why was Buck hitched in-between Dave and Sol-leks? What did Buck learn as a result?
4. Explain how did Buck learn to sleep in the snow.
5. Explain the transformation of Buck after becoming a sled dog compared to his life on Judge Miller’s estate.
6. What is the law of club and fang?
Aurora Borealis: Blaze of Glory
The Call of the Wild ends in a blaze of glory. The novel’s final image is that of Buck leaping against the background
of the glimmering, fiery aurora borealis. The aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, is a luminous atmospheric
condition that occurs most frequently above 60 degrees north latitude. Flashing and changing color rapidly, light
takes a variety of shapes in the sky: streaks, curtains, columns, arches, bands, circles, fans and flames.
Related to sunspots, the aurora borealis served as Jack London’s final tribute to the overwhelming and strikingly
beautiful force of nature itself.
Chapter 3
1. What caused Buck and Spitz to fight?
2. What event interrupted the fight between Buck and Spitz? What did this event cause?
3. Why did Buck not get up to get his daily ration of fish? What did Francois do to remedy this?
4. What happened to the sled dog team after Buck stood up to Spitz? How does Buck begin to undermine Spitz’s
authority in this chapter? Why was there conflict between the two dogs?
5. What event caused the fight to the death between Buck and Spitz? Who won and how did he win?
6. Explain the title of chapter 3, The Dominant Primordial Beast.
Pre-AP STUDY GUIDE – CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
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CALL OF THE WILD – Jack London
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
BACKGROUND
Yukon Territory
Prior to 1898, the area where the Yukon and Klondike rivers flow was part of Canada’s vast sparsely populated
Northwest Territories. With the discovery of gold in the region, the population grew quickly. In 1898, the Canadian
Parliament separated the most northwest portion of the region into its own territory. No one yet realized that the
population growth of this new Yukon Territory would be only temporary. By 1899 the Klondike gold rush was
almost over. Gold had been discovered in Alaska and many Yukon prospectors packed up and headed to the west.
The area we know as Alaska had been purchased from Russia in 1867. The U.S. official who pushed for the
purchase was William Seward. Many Americans opposed Seward’s idea. What good could come from owning all
that land? It wasn’t even connected to the other states. They labeled Alaska “Seward’s Folly,” or foolish act. How
pleased those same Americans were when gold was discovered in Alaska not many years later.
Did You Know?
Wolves and domestic dogs are both members of the Canidae family. We know
them, more commonly, as canines. They share characteristics—such as
powerful teeth and bushy tails—and differ in certain other details, such as
size and weight.
Scientists believe that dogs were the first wild animals to be domesticated.
Archaeologists have found evidence in sites dating as far back as 8,000 years
that dogs were living with humans. Wolves still survive in significant
numbers in Alaska and Canada. In the United States, however, only small
populations exist. Over the years, urban expansion has eliminated the wolves’
habitat.
People have long believed that wolves are dangerous animals. In fact, there
are few instances of wolves attacking humans. The attitude persists, however, and there is relatively little support
for increasing the wolf population in the United States.
Chapter 4
1. How do François and Perrault respond when they discover that Buck has killed Spitz?
2. Why wouldn’t Buck get into his old spot in the traces? What is this a symbol of?
3. Describe Buck’s qualities as the new team leader. How is he similar to Spitz? How is he different?
4. Describe the man in Buck’s dreams while sitting by the fire. What is the significance of these dreams? What is
London trying to show us with these dreams?
5. Explain the irony behind the selling of the sled dog team.
6. What happened to Dave during the long run? Explain why Dave tried to continue to follow the team and regain
his spot in the traces.
7. Explain the title of chapter 4, Who has Won to Mastership.
Pre-AP STUDY GUIDE – CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
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CALL OF THE WILD – Jack London
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
BACKGROUND
Realism
Have you ever looked at an old painting and thought the characters and the setting looked like a scene from a
dream? Chances are, you were looking at the work of a romanticist—someone who created art in a highly
subjective, or emotional, manner according to ideas and customs that were fashionable in his or her time. Around
the middle of the 1800s, some artists and writers attempted to show and to write about things as they really were,
not as someone thought they ought to be. The attempt to depict or describe real human behavior and
circumstances is called realism.
Jack London uses realism in his telling of The Call of the Wild. He does not pick and choose only the “nice” details or
only the unpleasant ones. London includes details and episodes that represent life faithfully, even if that life is
unpleasant.
Chapter 5
1. In what ways was the team in a "wretched state" when it reached Skagway? Why didn’t the team get a rest after
that long run?
2. How were Hal, Charles and Mercedes unfit for the North?
3. Explain the factors that led to several dogs dying during their time with Hal, Charles and Mercedes.
4. Why did Buck refuse to rise and lead the team? What did he have that his masters lacked?
5. Why did John Thornton advise them not to go on to Dawson? Explain how Buck remains with Thornton and
what happens to Hal, Charles, Mercedes and the dogs.
Chapter 6
1. How did Buck’s relationship with John Thornton differ from his relationships with his previous masters? How
does Buck balance his love for Thornton with his more primitive self?
2. Why did Buck follow Thornton everywhere?
3. What happened when ‘Black ‘Burton struck Thornton? Why was Buck acting this way?
4. What extraordinary feat did Buck perform for Thornton? Explain what happened. How was offered for Buck?
5. Explain the title of chapter 6, For the Love of a Man.
BACKGROUND
The Yeehats
The Yeehats, Jack London’s fanciful name for an Eskimo tribe, may be based on the
Yuit, an indigenous people of Siberia and the Bering Strait. London’s portrayal of the
Yeehats as savages who engage in senseless, uncontrolled violence is characteristic
of colonizing cultures’ descriptions of indigenous peoples. In actuality, the Yuits
were successful traders with the Russians as well as with their neighbors. They
performed ritual dramas and dance—and used dog teams and sleds.
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CALL OF THE WILD – Jack London
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
Chapter 7
1. London describes Buck’s dreams of the primitive man: “The salient thing of this other world seemed fear.” What
does he mean by this? Why would that be true? Why isn’t Thornton’s world filled with fear?
2. How does Buck respond to his trip into the wilderness?
3. Why is Buck intent on befriending the wolf? What makes him break off their travels to return to camp?
4. What does Buck’s fight with the bear and the moose display about his embrace of the call?
5. What happened to John Thornton? Why did this happen?
6. What does Buck learn from his slaughter of the Yeehats? Does this make his answering of the call harder or
easier? Explain.
7. What has Buck done in the end? What has he become and why?
8. Explain the title of chapter 8, The Sounding of the Call.
Major Themes (Fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.)
Survival of the Fittest
Jack London believed in Herbert Spencer's theory of "survival of the fittest," which means basically that an
organism or group that is better suited to an environment will have a better chance for survival than an animal or
group that is less suited. In other words, Spencer suggested that learning did not play a great role in the survival of
a species. More often it had to do with luck -- a major environmental change would suddenly make one group of
organisms better off than it had been before, and they would therefore live longer and reproduce more.
London clearly makes use of the idea of "survival of the fittest" in The Call of the Wild. By chance, Buck's
environment undergoes a tremendous change - he is kidnapped and taken from a "sun-kissed," easy existence to
the wilds of the Klondike. Buck survives because he was genetically more suited to that environment than many of
the other dogs who were there. He did not need to learn much of anything - the instincts for survival were handed
down by his ancestors -- a more poetic version of genetic inheritance.
The power of Instinct
This theme also relates to London's interest in Charles Darwin's and Herbert Spenser's work. For the first time
there was a scientific theory, which suggested that human beings as well as animals have natural instincts which
are merely things passed down through the genetic code. In The Call of the Wild, London dwells a great deal on
animal instinct, for Buck's ability to listen to his instinct both makes him more and more powerful and draws him
more and more deeply towards the wild. When Buck leads the team into John Thornton's camp, he does not
consciously know why he does not get up. He is as capable of continuing as the other dogs, and he has no desire to
be killed. Instead, he unconsciously sensed that the snow and ice under his feet were getting weaker and weaker.
His instincts told him to go no further, and he obeyed them, saving his life.
Man and the Natural World
Nature in The Call of the Wild is a force to be reckoned with. In the frozen terrain of northern Canada, Buck
experiences starvation, exhaustion, and, of course, bitter cold. But the natural world isn’t purely antagonistic; it
also stimulates the dogs, shapes them, and molds them into stronger, more powerful beings. The wild is an
antagonist and a guide at the same time. If we don’t adapt to live in it, we die.
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CALL OF THE WILD – Jack London
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
Fate vs. Free Will
A series of seemingly inevitable events in The Call of the Wild underscore the notion of destiny. Is Buck destined to
leave his life of comfort and become a creature of the wild? That is the big question, of course, but there are other
smaller issues of fate that work together to make this a theme in the novel. Are foolish men bound to die in the
frozen terrain of the North? Are two alpha dogs destined to fight one another to the death? While The Call of the
Wild does not question the idea that we all have free will to make choices, it does suggest that certain foreseeable
events simply have to occur – it is the natural order.
Motifs (recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help develop and inform the text’s
major themes.)
Violent Struggle
Life-and-death battles punctuate The Call of the Wild’s narrative, serving as reminders of the dangers of life in the
Klondike, but more importantly as markers of Buck’s gradual integration into his new environment. When Buck
first arrives in the north, he watches a friendly dog named Curly brutally killed by a husky. Soon, he finds himself in
a rivalry with Spitz that ends with the two of them locked in single combat, a battle from which only Buck emerges
alive. Having established himself as a dominant dog with this victory, Buck must continue to prove himself in
battles with other creatures—with a bear, with a moose, and, finally, with humans. When Buck kills the Yeehat
Indians who have killed John Thornton, he is fighting for his life against mankind for the first time, a sure sign of his
final assimilation into the wild.
Visions
One of the themes of The Call of the Wild is “atavism,” or an animal’s (in this case, Buck’s) recovery of the instincts
of his wild ancestors. For Buck, this recovery involves repeated visions of his primitive past, which usually occur
late at night when he is lying alongside a campfire. He sees the men around him as primitive men, draped in furs
and wary of the prehistoric dark around them, and then he has visions of himself as a primitive, wild creature,
hunting his prey in the primeval forests. Each of these visions brings him closer to his destiny, which is the return
to his ancestors’ ways and becoming a wild animal himself.
Symbols (objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas and concepts.)
Mercedes’ Possessions
Mercedes loads the sled up with so many of her things that the dogs cannot possibly pull it; later, she herself gets
on the sled, making the load even heavier. Her insistence on having all of her possessions with her emphasizes the
difference between the wild, where the value of an object lies in its immediate usefulness, and civilization, where
the value of an object lies in its ability to symbolize the wealth of its possessor. Material possessions and
consumerism have no place in the wild, and it is at least partly Mercedes’ inability to recognize this fact that leads
to her death when the overburdened sled falls through the ice.
Buck’s Traces
The significance of Buck’s traces—the straps that bind him to the rest of the team—changes as the plot develops.
The novel initially charts his descent from his position as the monarch of Judge Miller’s place in civilization to a
servile status in which it is his duty to pull the sled for humans. But as he becomes more a part of the wild, Buck
begins to understand the hierarchy of the pack that pulls the sled, and he begins to gain authority over the pack.
After his duel with Spitz, he is harnessed into the lead dog’s position; his harness now represents not servitude to
the humans but leadership over the dogs. Finally, however, John Thornton cuts Buck free from his traces, an act
that symbolizes his freedom from a world in which he serves humans. Now a companion to Thornton rather than a
servant, Buck gradually begins to enter a world of individual survival in the wild.
Buck’s First Beatings with the Club; Curly’s Death
When Buck is kidnapped, he attempts to attack one of the men who has seized him, only to be beaten repeatedly
with a club. This moment, when his fighting spirit is temporarily broken, along with the brutal killing of Curly by a
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CALL OF THE WILD – Jack London
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
group of vicious sled dogs, symbolizes Buck’s departure from the old, comfortable life of a pet in a warm climate,
and his entrance into a new world where the only law is “the law of club and fang.”
Buck’s Attack on the Yeehats
In the closing chapters of the novel, Buck feels the call of life in the wild drawing him away from mankind, away
from campfires and towns, and into the forest. The only thing that prevents him from going, that keeps him tied to
the world of men, is his love for John Thornton. When the Yeehat Indians kill Thornton, Buck’s last tie to humanity
is cut, and he becomes free to attack the Yeehats, killing a number of them. To attack a human being would once
have been unthinkable for Buck, and his willingness to do so now symbolizes the fact that his transformation is
complete—that he has truly embraced his wild nature.
VOCABULARY LIST
auspiciously: adv. in a way that suggests a positive outcome; favorably
cowed: adj. intimidated
discomfiture: n. uneasiness; discomfort
divers: adj. several; various
insular: adj. isolated
latent: adj. hidden
malignant: adj. causing or intending harm
primordial: adj. relating to the earliest ages; primitive
score: n. twenty
unwonted: adj. unusual; out of the ordinary
callowness: n. immaturity
inexorable: adj. relentless; not to be persuaded
manifested: v. made evident or obvious
obdurate: adj. resistant to persuasion; inflexible
perambulating: v. traveling on foot
plaint: n. plea
prerogative: n. a special right
ramshackle: adj. run down
rend: v. tear
salient: adj. noticeable; prominent
commingled: adj. mixed together
expediency: n. practical haste
feigned: n. pretended; faked
ministrations: n. careful attentions
muses: v. reflects, thinks
palpitant: adj. trembling, throbbing
peremptorily: adv. in an arrogant or self-assured manner
plethoric: adj. excessively full
tangible: adj. real; capable of being perceived by the senses
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CALL OF THE WILD – Jack London
[STUDY GUIDE
MR. BURKE/PRE-AP ENGLISH]
Making Inferences About character
Read what happens to Buck in each chapter and explain how he changes as a result of his experiences.
Chapter 1: Buck is kidnapped and beaten.
How Buck changes
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Chapter 2: Buck sees Curly get killed.
How Buck changes
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Chapter 3: Starving huskies attack the team, team makes exhausting journey.
How Buck changes
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Chapter 4: Buck becomes team leader, he dreams of the hairy man.
How Buck changes
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Chapter 5: Buck’s relationship with Hal, Charles and Mercedes.
Reveals that Buck can be
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Chapter 6-7: Buck’s relationship with the wolves.
Reveals that Buck can be
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CALL OF THE WILD – Jack London
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CONFLICT: A conflict is a struggle between two opposing forces. They can be external or internal. Conflict drives every plot
and, in the book, Buck finds himself in conflict with something. Describe the conflict that occurs and the outcome.
Chapter
Conflict
Outcome
Buck versus the dog-breaker
1
Buck versus hunger
2
Buck versus Spitz
3
Buck vs. Francois and the new lead dog
4
Thornton versus Hal
5
Buck and Thornton vs. the river
6
Buck vs. the moose and the Yeehats
7
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