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Characteristics Of Buck In The Call Of The Wild

Decent Essays

Rex Berry
Wilson
Pre-AP ELA 8
04 September 2017
Character Traits of Buck from The Call of The Wild
How would being kidnapped, stolen, and transported from California to Alaska change one’s character? It would certainly have an effect on one’s personality and character traits, but in different ways depending on the individual. The Call of the Wild, a novel by Jack London, is about a dog named Buck who lived on a ranch in California, but was stolen and sold. He was transported to Alaska, where he worked as a sled dog. Throughout the novel, his character traits slowly change. Over the span of the novel, Buck turns from domesticated to primitive, and he returns to the wild at the end of the novel, completely independent from any human.
DOMESTICATED TO PRIMITIVE
Over the course of The Call of the Wild, Buck’s character traits become increasingly more primitive. He was born on a ranch in Santa Clara Valley, California to a St. Bernard and a Scotch shepherd dog. At the beginning of the novel, he was stolen by the gardener’s helper and sold. He was then transported to Alaska to work as a sled dog. While working as a sled dog, he learns to follow primitive law far out from civilization. At the end, he joins a pack of wild wolves, proving his strength and agility and becoming the leader of the pack, and he hunts and kills like a wolf. All of this signifies Buck’s transformation into a wild beast. something. “He did not steal [food] for joy of it, but because of the clamor of his

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