From Hate to Love
A review of White Fang by Jack London
By Julia A. Keirns
First published in print in 1906, White Fang is one of the best wilderness adventure stories ever written by Jack London. London not only wrote exciting stories, he lived them. Set in the frozen wild territories of Canada, the story of White Fang follows a wolf-dog as he battles nature and man.
Born in a cave in the wild to the she-wolf and One Eye, White Fang knows fear, but not necessarily the stuff that fear is made of. One day as he is exploring his territory outside the cave, he comes upon a camp of five Indians. It is his first glimpse of mankind, and this first experience wields him a clubbing right off the bat as he attempts to bite the hand of an Indian who tries to pet him. As his mother jumps in to protect him, he soon finds out that she willingly submits to the men. She had belonged to them before she ran off with the wolf One Eye. The man Gray Beaver soon names him…
“His fangs be white, and White Fang shall be his name. I have spoken. He is my dog.”
White Fang learns rapidly that man is powerful and cruel. “The man animals were gods, unmistakable and unescapable…He belonged to them as all dogs belonged to them.” But his submission does not come easy. He is beaten regularly in order to learn it. The wilderness is harsh, and the humans are savage. He unwillingly learns to obey them at much cost. Until one man sees White Fang for what he truly can be and takes him for his own. Weedon Scott carries no club, no whip, no firearm. As Scott teaches White Fang love and respect, White Fang slowly endures it to the point of learning to leave his old life of hate behind and accepting this new dawning of a better life.
Reading the story of White Fang as he learns the ways of the wilderness and the ways of man, takes you on a journey from fear and hate to loyalty and love. It is beautifully written, exciting to read, and fulfilling in the end. A great classic that belongs at the top of everyone’s list.