The Use of Literary Techniques in the Novel 'Call of the Wild'
In The Call of the Wild, Jack London depicts Buck, a civilised dog from the Southland, who is kidnapped, and abducted from his comfortable life, sent to cope in the tyrannical, hate-filled environment of the Canadian wilderness. Here, he learns the “Law of Club and Fang”, that he must fight to survive. He becomes “The Dominant Primordial Beast” of this wilderness and will not just discover how to survive in his new environment… but thrive. London uses a plethora of literary techniques to portray the character development of protagonist, Buck, showing the hardships through his journey, and how the relentless environment changes him.
Firstly, London helps situate the reader into Buck’s perspective, whilst using the foremost technique throughout the novel, anthropomorphism. London’s use of anthropomorphism helps give the reader a sense of Buck’s terror of being dragged away from his familiar home and thrown into a foreign environment. This fright, shown by London’s use of anthropomorphism, also assists Buck in becoming “metamorphosed into a raging fiend” later in the novel. London’s appliance of anthropomorphism also helps the reader comprehend and understand Buck’s different objectives throughout the novel. As we all know, the men in this story only have one ambition, to find gold, however, Buck’s aspirations change throughout the novel. From becoming the alpha dog, to escaping from his new owners, London helps us see this through his use of anthropomorphism. Another technique used to help support this anthropomorphism is when London practises his visual imagery. In the opening of this novel, visual imagery supports anthropomorphism. The reader can see this as visual imagery also assists in helping perceive Buck’s fear. An example of this is when London writes, “[Buck’s] jaws closed on the hand, nor did they relax till his senses were choked out of him”. Through London’s use of both anthropomorphism and visual imagery, we can now see that Buck is becoming a dog who feels wrath and rage rather than fear.
Nearer to the midpoint of the novel, London utilises other significant techniques, such as motifs. One of the consistent motifs clearly exposed and educated to Buck from early in the novel, is “The Law of Club and Fang”. This message was established numerous times throughout the novel. It means that club is representing man, and the fang representing the dogs. This “Law of Club and Fang” helped prepare Buck into his place. This is what taught Buck that he can become the most powerful dog but will never overpower his masters, represented as the club. We can see this when London illustrates Buck greeting his new companions for the first time, saying “They were savages, all of them, who knew no law but the law of club and fang”. This proves that dogs with experience are also aware of this law, which Buck will soon learn to respect and follow.
Another technique used by London countless times in the centre of the novel is foreshadowing. London foreshadowing Buck as becoming “The Dominant Primordial Beast”, as the third chapter of the novel suggest, with one great example is when the sled dogs are ambushed. Buck is at first frightful, then comes to his senses and London describes him as having a “Frothing adversary by the throat, and was sprayed with blood when his teeth sank through the jugular. The warm taste of it in his mouth goaded him to greater fierceness.” The reader can clearly see from this excerpt that London is trying to exhibit that Buck is becoming this “The Dominant Primordial Beast”.
Nearer to the climax of the novel, we can see the change and development Buck has faced, and this is displayed through a technique which has been fitted into the novel without any explicit presentation, and this technique is juxtaposition. London points out in the final chapter of the novel that Buck has become a, “Killer, a thing that preyed, living on the things that lived, by virtue of his own strength and prowess”. This manifests the difference between Buck at the start of the novel, attempting to survive, and narrowly succeeding, whilst now having developed into a dog which is described as a killer. Another technique highlighted at the end of the novel, which aids the novel’s juxtaposition, was London’s utilisation of flashbacks. In the conclusion of the novel, Buck experiences many flashbacks of his previous life, and this gives the reader exact detail to how Buck has changed as the protagonist of this story. This is supported when London tells that, “Old memories were coming upon [Buck] fast, and he was stirring to them as of old he stirred to the realities of which they were the shadows”. This demonstrates that Buck has changed so much that he cannot even recall his prior life and those memories are just now “shadows”. Not just does this exhibit London’s use of juxtaposition, but it emphasises Buck’s character development.
In conclusion, London’s expert use of literary technique has helped the reader see how Buck has developed throughout the novel. He displays through these techniques that Buck has developed from a petrified, civilised dog, to a dog who rules both his pack and his wilderness, becoming “The Dominant Primordial Beast”.
