The Call of the Wild
Encyclopedia
The Call of the Wild is a novel by American writer Jack London
. The plot concerns a previously domesticated dog named Buck, whose primordial instincts return after a series of events leads to his serving as a sled dog in the Yukon
during the 19th-century Klondike Gold Rush
, in which sled dogs fetched generous prices. Buck learns from his experiences and becomes a pack-dominating feral beast. He learns lessons and relies on resurgent behaviors inherited from his wild predecessors, helping him to survive adversity as a ferocious animal.
Published in 1903, The Call of the Wild is London's most-read book, and it is generally considered his best, the masterpiece of his so-called "early period". Because the protagonist is a dog, it is sometimes classified as a juvenile novel, but it is dark in tone and contains numerous scenes of cruelty and violence. The Yeehat, a group of Alaska Natives
portrayed in Call of the Wild, were a figment of London's imagination.
The novel opens with the first quatrain of John Myers O'Hara
's poem, Atavism. The stanza outlines one of the main motifs of the novel, that Buck, raised in the "sun-kissed" Santa Clara Valley
, has reverted to innate instincts of wolf-like savagery due to his captors' brutality and their having thrust him into the harsh Northland environment where The Law of Club and Fang reigns supreme.
Eventually, Buck is sold to a trio, Hal, Charles, and a woman named Mercedes, looking to make a fortune finding gold. They know nothing about sledding nor surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. They struggle to control the sled and ignore warnings not to travel during the spring melt. They first overfeed the dogs, then when their food supply starts running out, they do not feed them at all. As they journey on, they run into John Thornton, an experienced outdoorsman who notices that all of the sled dogs are in terrible shape from the ill treatment of their handlers. Thornton warns the trio against crossing the river, but they refuse to listen and order Buck to move on. Exhausted, starving, and sensing the danger ahead, Buck refuses and continues to lie unmoving in the snow. After Buck is beaten by Hal, Thornton recognizes him as a remarkable dog and is disgusted by the driver's treatment of him. Thornton cuts Buck free from his traces and tells the trio he's keeping him, much to Hal's displeasure. After some argument, the trio leaves and tries to cross the river, but as Thornton warned, the ice gives way and the three fall into the river along with the neglected dogs and sled.
As Thornton nurses Buck back to health, Buck comes to love him and grows devoted to him. Buck saves Thornton when the man falls into a river. Thornton then takes him on trips to pan for gold. During one such trip, a man makes a wager with Thornton over Buck's strength and devotion. Buck wins the bet by breaking a half-ton sled out of the frozen ground, then pulling it 100 yards by himself, winning over a thousand dollars in gold dust. Thornton and his friends return to their camp and continue their search for gold, while Buck begins exploring the wilderness around them and begins socializing with a wolf from a local pack. One night, he returns from a short hunt to find his beloved master and the others in the camp have been killed by a group of Yeehat Indians. Buck eventually kills the Indians to avenge Thornton. After realizing his old life is a thing of the past, Buck follows the wolf into the forest and answers the call of the wild. Every year Buck comes to mourn for Thornton at the place where he died.
and his brother Louis Whitford Bond
, the sons of Judge Hiram Bond, who was also a mining investor, fruit packer and banker in Santa Clara, California
. The Bonds were Jack London's landlords in Dawson City during the autumn of 1897 and spring of 1898; the main year of the Klondike Gold Rush.
starring Clark Gable
and Loretta Young
emphasized the human relationships over Buck's story. The 1972 The Call of the Wild
starred Charlton Heston
and Mick Steele. A television film starring Rick Schroder
was broadcast in 1993 that focused more on the character of John Thornton.
Another adaptation released 1997 called The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon
starring Rutger Hauer was narrated by Richard Dreyfuss
and adapted by Graham Ludlow
. There was also a Call of the Wild
television series broadcast in 2000.
On June 12, 2009, Vivendi Entertainment
released "Call of the Wild in Digital Real-D 3D
", a family-oriented adaption feature-length film.
The TV special What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown!
has a plot similar to that of The Call of the Wild.
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
. The plot concerns a previously domesticated dog named Buck, whose primordial instincts return after a series of events leads to his serving as a sled dog in the Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
during the 19th-century Klondike Gold Rush
Klondike Gold Rush
The Klondike Gold Rush, also called the Yukon Gold Rush, the Alaska Gold Rush and the Last Great Gold Rush, was an attempt by an estimated 100,000 people to travel to the Klondike region the Yukon in north-western Canada between 1897 and 1899 in the hope of successfully prospecting for gold...
, in which sled dogs fetched generous prices. Buck learns from his experiences and becomes a pack-dominating feral beast. He learns lessons and relies on resurgent behaviors inherited from his wild predecessors, helping him to survive adversity as a ferocious animal.
Published in 1903, The Call of the Wild is London's most-read book, and it is generally considered his best, the masterpiece of his so-called "early period". Because the protagonist is a dog, it is sometimes classified as a juvenile novel, but it is dark in tone and contains numerous scenes of cruelty and violence. The Yeehat, a group of Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives
Alaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska. They include: Aleut, Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures.-History:In 1912 the Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded...
portrayed in Call of the Wild, were a figment of London's imagination.
Epigraph
“Old longings nomadic leap,
Chafing at custom’s chain;
Again from its brumal sleep
Wakens the ferine strain.”
The novel opens with the first quatrain of John Myers O'Hara
John Myers O'Hara
John Myers O'Hara was an American poet. His poem Atavism is used as the epigram to Jack London's The Call of the Wild:“Old longings nomadic leap, Chafing at custom’s chain; Again from its brumal sleep Wakens the ferine strain.”...
's poem, Atavism. The stanza outlines one of the main motifs of the novel, that Buck, raised in the "sun-kissed" Santa Clara Valley
Santa Clara Valley
The Santa Clara Valley is a valley just south of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California in the United States. Much of Santa Clara County and its county seat, San José, are in the Santa Clara Valley. The valley was originally known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight for its high concentration...
, has reverted to innate instincts of wolf-like savagery due to his captors' brutality and their having thrust him into the harsh Northland environment where The Law of Club and Fang reigns supreme.
Plot
Buck, a powerful Saint Bernard-Scotch shepherd dog, lives a comfortable life in the Santa Clara Valley with his owner, Judge Miller. One day, Manuel, the Judge's gardener's assistant, steals Buck and sells him in order to pay a gambling debt. Buck is then shipped to the "man in the red sweater" to be broken. Then Buck is shipped to Alaska and sold to a pair of French Canadians named François and Perrault (for $300), who were impressed with his physique. They train him as a sled dog, and he quickly learns how to survive the cold winter nights and the pack society by observing his teammates. He and the vicious, quarrelsome lead dog, Spitz, develop a rivalry. Buck eventually bests Spitz in a major fight, and after Spitz is defeated, the other dogs close in, killing him. Buck then becomes the leader of the team.Eventually, Buck is sold to a trio, Hal, Charles, and a woman named Mercedes, looking to make a fortune finding gold. They know nothing about sledding nor surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. They struggle to control the sled and ignore warnings not to travel during the spring melt. They first overfeed the dogs, then when their food supply starts running out, they do not feed them at all. As they journey on, they run into John Thornton, an experienced outdoorsman who notices that all of the sled dogs are in terrible shape from the ill treatment of their handlers. Thornton warns the trio against crossing the river, but they refuse to listen and order Buck to move on. Exhausted, starving, and sensing the danger ahead, Buck refuses and continues to lie unmoving in the snow. After Buck is beaten by Hal, Thornton recognizes him as a remarkable dog and is disgusted by the driver's treatment of him. Thornton cuts Buck free from his traces and tells the trio he's keeping him, much to Hal's displeasure. After some argument, the trio leaves and tries to cross the river, but as Thornton warned, the ice gives way and the three fall into the river along with the neglected dogs and sled.
As Thornton nurses Buck back to health, Buck comes to love him and grows devoted to him. Buck saves Thornton when the man falls into a river. Thornton then takes him on trips to pan for gold. During one such trip, a man makes a wager with Thornton over Buck's strength and devotion. Buck wins the bet by breaking a half-ton sled out of the frozen ground, then pulling it 100 yards by himself, winning over a thousand dollars in gold dust. Thornton and his friends return to their camp and continue their search for gold, while Buck begins exploring the wilderness around them and begins socializing with a wolf from a local pack. One night, he returns from a short hunt to find his beloved master and the others in the camp have been killed by a group of Yeehat Indians. Buck eventually kills the Indians to avenge Thornton. After realizing his old life is a thing of the past, Buck follows the wolf into the forest and answers the call of the wild. Every year Buck comes to mourn for Thornton at the place where he died.
Development
Buck, the main character in the book, is based on a Saint Bernard/Scots Shepherd sled dog which belonged to Marshall Latham BondMarshall Latham Bond
Marshall Latham Bond was one of two brothers who were Jack London's landlords and among his employers during the autumn of 1897 and the spring of 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush. They were the owners of the dog that Jack London fictionalized as Buck....
and his brother Louis Whitford Bond
Louis Whitford Bond
Louis Whitford Bond is remembered for having been one of two brothers who were the landlords and among the employers of Jack London during the Klondike Gold Rush. Their dog was the inspiration for his novel The Call of the Wild. Bond was born November 1, 1865, at Rushford, Allegany County, New...
, the sons of Judge Hiram Bond, who was also a mining investor, fruit packer and banker in Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
. The Bonds were Jack London's landlords in Dawson City during the autumn of 1897 and spring of 1898; the main year of the Klondike Gold Rush.
Film adaptations
Several films based on the novel have been produced. The 1935 versionThe Call of the Wild (1935 film)
The Call of the Wild is a 1935 American adventure film adaptation of Jack London's novel of the same name. A prospector heading for the Alaska gold rush rescues a sled dog from its cruel master. Stars Clark Gable and Loretta Young had an affair during the film's production, resulting in Young's...
starring Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
and Loretta Young
Loretta Young
Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...
emphasized the human relationships over Buck's story. The 1972 The Call of the Wild
The Call of the Wild (1972 film)
The Call of the Wild is a 1972 British family adventure film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Charlton Heston, Michèle Mercier, Raimund Harmstorf, George Eastman, and Maria Rohm....
starred Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
and Mick Steele. A television film starring Rick Schroder
Rick Schroder
Richard Bartlett "Rick" Schroder, Jr. is an American actor and film director.He debuted in the 1979 hit film The Champ, going on to become a child star on the sitcom Silver Spoons...
was broadcast in 1993 that focused more on the character of John Thornton.
Another adaptation released 1997 called The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon
The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon
Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon is a 1997 TV movie. The screenplay by Graham Ludlow is based on the classic Jack London novel The Call of the Wild, published in 1903. Narrated by Richard Dreyfuss and starring Rutger Hauer, this film premiered and was well received at Palm Springs International...
starring Rutger Hauer was narrated by Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
and adapted by Graham Ludlow
Graham Ludlow
Graham Ludlow is a Canadian actor, executive, screenwriter and producer. Ludlow was born in England but grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. He graduated from Magee Secondary School....
. There was also a Call of the Wild
Call of the Wild (TV series)
Call of the Wild was an adventure television series based on the best-selling novel of the same title by author Jack London. It was shown on Animal Planet...
television series broadcast in 2000.
On June 12, 2009, Vivendi Entertainment
Vivendi Entertainment
Vivendi Entertainment is an independent film, television, DVD and digital distribution company operating in the United States and Canada. It is also a distribution partner for independent content providers....
released "Call of the Wild in Digital Real-D 3D
Call of the Wild (2009 film)
Call of the Wild is an American film starring Christopher Lloyd, Timothy Bottoms, Veronica Cartwright, Christopher Dempsey, Joyce DeWitt, Ariel Gade, Devon Graye, Devon Iott, Kameron Knox, Russell Snyder, and Wes Studi; and directed by Richard Gabai.-Plot:A modern-day retelling of Jack London's...
", a family-oriented adaption feature-length film.
The TV special What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown!
What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown!
What a Nightmare, Charlie Brown! is the 17th primetime animated TV specials based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz. It was originally aired on Thursday, February 23, 1978, at 8:00 P.M. ET/PT on CBS. The special is unusual in that Snoopy and Charlie Brown are the...
has a plot similar to that of The Call of the Wild.