Bucks Hardships and Their Overcoming in the Novel 'Call of the Wild'

Buck changed a lot throughout the novel 'Call of the Wild' and eventually became a wild dog running with a wolf pack. He faced many challenges throughout his journey and has always felt that call to the wild. Buck had it all, but that quickly changed with the spark of the Klondike gold rush. He no longer had the comfort and security of his California home, but change was good for Buck. He becomes a stronger and more intelligent animal on his journey in the Klondike. Buck has always been a big dog and a strong one for that matter. Buck is a St. Bernard so his largeness and strength is bred into him. He lived in a nice California home with love and comfort, before he was sold to a man so he could become a sled dog. Buck hated this change, he didn’t trust anybody at first and was biting whoever came close. He has never done anything like this back in California. He was cared for and loved playing with his owners children. Buck didn’t know why this was happening to him.

Buck had to learn and adapt quickly to the new environment that he was brought into. He no longer could be caught off guard, he had to be alert and keen of his surroundings. As soon as buck arrived he already had an enemy and that was Spitzs. Spitzs was the leader of the sled team that buck was apart of and he never let a dog get out of line, he would even kill them if they made one little mistake. Example: He had learned well the law of club and fang, and he never forewent an advantage or drew back from a foe he had started on the way to Death. He had lessoned from Spitz, and from the chief fighting dogs of the police and mail, and knew there was no middle course. He must master or be mastered; while to show mercy was a weakness. mercy did not exist in the primordial life. It was misunderstood for fear, and such misunderstandings made for death. Kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, was the law; and this mandate, down out of the depths of time, he obeyed.

Buck could not go back to what he knew before, there was only one way to think now and that was how to survive. Buck eventually had to kill his foe while chasing after a rabbit, after that incident Buck now had a taste for blood and knew that he was the strongest now. As much as Buck changed there is really no telling if he would ever go back to being captive. After John Thornton was killed Buck had no one that cared about him anymore and decided he would follow the call; the call of the wild. Buck, while with John Thornton, met this wolf at John’s camp one night and followed it into the woods but knew that he couldn’t leave John yet even though the wolf wanted him to come with. John Thornton’s camp was attacked by Indians not to long after and he knew that he couldn’t find another human to look after so he knew what he had to do now. That was the last ties Buck had with civilization and knew what his next step in life was going to be. Buck knew he must join up with the wolves, he must follow the call of the wild. “And closely akin to the visions of the hairy man was the call still sounding in the depths of the forest. It filled him with a great unrest and strange desires. It caused him to feel a vague, sweet gladness, and he was aware of wild yearnings and stirrings for he knew not what. Sometimes he pursued the call into the forest, looking for it as though it were a tangible thing, barking softly or defiantly, as the mood might dictate”. 

Throughout the whole novel ‘Call of the Wild’ Buck undergoes several changes and always came out on top, even if he had to adapt to the worst conditions possible. It truly was a lot to undergo when he came from living in a warm and comfortable place to sleeping under the snow to keep warm. Most dogs would not have made it through what Buck had to go through, but Buck is a strong minded dog with spirit and motivation and with that he could make it through anything.