The Brutalization of Buck
A review of The Call of the Wild by Jack London
By Julia A. Keirns
The Call of the Wild is an intriguingly harsh story written about a dog named Buck who is stolen from a home and a family and sold into the brutal reality of the gold rush days in Alaska and Canada. Written from the viewpoint of Buck the dog, it is a story of survival. It is a wonderfully written story that compels you to turn the page and read on into the night. I couldn’t end the night on a page where Buck was beaten down and almost broken. I had to read on until I knew he survived.
Author Jack London personally experienced the gold rush days and observed the savage treatment of the sled dogs first-hand. This book was written in 1903, well over a hundred years ago. Reading “The Call of the Wild” is not for the faint of heart.
Buck is brutally beaten time and time again, but it never completely breaks him. He survives and thrives in the wild. I do have to say that reading the dialogue London chose to use for some of the gold miners is very difficult to understand, but the writing of the story is full of nature and wonder. The other parts that are hard to read include the gruesome details of the horrible treatment Buck and some of the other dogs endure. My stomach actually turned a few times and the emotion of anger welled up inside of me against these horrible brutal men.
Buck is finally saved from the club wielding owner who beats him every day by a man named John Thornton. John Thornton is a wonderful dog owner according to Buck…
“This man had saved his life, which was something; but, further, he was the ideal master. Other men saw to the welfare of their dogs from a sense of duty and business expediency; he saw to the welfare of his as if they were his own children…”
Reading the words of Jack London is exciting. He had a flare with wilderness stories that just draws you in to the nature and the details of the trail. The Call of the Wild by Jack London is a great classic book that belongs near the top of anyone’s list of 100 classics to read before you die.