"The Call of the Wild" entry #2

Author: Jack London; Published: 1903 & 2002

So far in "The Call of the Wild" we've had an introduction to the main character of the book, Buck. The book starts out with Buck still in his home, in Santa Clara Valley and Buck's view on life there to his life starting out in the North and his transition to becoming accustomed to life there. When Buck starts life out in the North, he doesn't know what hit him- he's starved from food and water for two days before he reaches his final destination, where he's beaten half-to-death by a man with a club and wearing a red sweater. Buck remembers him much farther on into the book- but its here that Buck learns the law of club and fang. After a time Buck is sold from the man in the red sweater to Perrault and Francois. Both men where fair and taught Buck well the law of the land- but its here that Buck becomes the master of the law of club and fang. He learns it well, to the point where after a time, Buck fights the lead dog of the team, Spitz for the leadership of the team. Buck wins- and as all fights that follow the law of club and fang, Spitz dies and Buck becomes the unannounced leader of the sled dog team. Of course Perrault and Francois don't realize this, they only know that Spitz is missing and Buck is trying to take Spitz's place in the traces as lead dog in the front of the line. After awhile (and after being humiliated quite a bit by being able to catch or hit Buck to put him in his proper place in the line) - they grudgingly acknowledge Buck as the leader of the sled dog team and he leads the sled dog team from that point onward. After a time, Buck and his team are sold again- this time to a bunch of mail carriers. Buck is worked hard with these masters and during a short period of time runs over 2,500 miles. When Buck and his team are all tuckered out, they are sold yet again- this time to two men named Hal and Charles and one woman named Mercedes. These two men and one woman know nothing about living on the trail, let alone living in the wilds of Alaska. They are so disorganized that at best they barely make 10 miles a day, which was less than a quarter of what Buck and his team were capable of doing at their best. Of course by this point in time they are worn out and are over-loaded with a top heavy sled, but for some mysterious reason Hal, Charles and Mercedes won't listen to other people's advice and go ahead when the pack ice starts thawing and becoming bad ice to sled on. At one point, Buck lays in this middle of the trail- refusing to get up and its here that Buck meets John Thornton, a kind man that he comes to love for saving his life.