Call of the Wild Brief Summary
Call of the Wild - Brief SummaryNo matter how Spitz circled, Joe whirled around on his heels to face him, mane bristling, ears laid back, lips writhing and jaws clipping together as fast as he could snap, and eyes diabolically gleaming–the incarnation of belligerent fear. Buck, a dog, not a real old dog, but not a real young one either, got taken for a ride with his master’s gardener one day. To his surprise the short little trip turned to a confusing journey from the hands of one stranger to another. And with all these new people around he meets new dogs too. His endless journey stops way up north in the bitter cold with much talk of this strange “yellow metal.” Buck journeys to the bitter north lead by a couple of strangers named Perrault and Francois. The two men whip Buck and the other dogs in to mean, ravenous, sled dogs, with starving bellies and wolf-life instincts. All of the beatings and dog fights prepare the dogs for a long treacherous search for the mysterious “yellow metal” better known as…gold… Buck’s old, laid back, house pet behavior gets replaced with a viscous animal-like mentality. Buck finds himself scrapping for food with the other older dogs and more experienced. They whoop up on him pretty bad and leave him in his place, at the near bottom of the dog’s pecking order. Buck goes on learning his lesson and becoming stronger and stronger until, at last, he can reign above the other dogs and rank top with his master’s too. At the end Buck left his long hard life of answering to the master’s whip and fulfilling everyone of their commands. He left that life to lead one on his own terms in the wild, fending for himself. Not too long after he left the dreaded camp he lived in for so long, humans catching a glimpse of him started giving him the name Ghost Dog. As the Ghost Dog he savors his mystery life from all civilization, whips and unkind words. He carries on answering his…call of the wild… To Buck it seems like something keeps calling him, a feeling, a sound, almost, a desire. He can’t tell what at first, but finally he figures it out and finds his calling… the call of the wild… Through the book this yearning overcomes him until he must answer it and leave the world of human beings to satisfy to his call of the wild. I found the book a relief from the many books with endless description and overrated word use. London portrayed the master’s lashing and discipline so well to the point where I found myself flinching at the described raised whip of Perrault or Francois. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to get in to the action at the beginning of the book rather than the end or middle.