Mechanisms of The Survival of The Fittest in The Nature’s Thrall: “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London

What comes to our mind if a dog is given the power of speaking and it, meekly but unhesitatingly, says,

“The tiger kills Man—it is powerful—Man believes it to be a symbol of pride, but I do not kill Man—I am weak—I am forgotten. The powerful dominates everyone—they are happy—they are feared and respected, but the weak are dominated—they are crushed—they are neglected and alienated. That is the rule of the world. Everywhere power prevails”?

Does the statement bring up a sense of reality? It is a moot point.

Now the question is: What does the same dog do when faced with a less powerful animal? Does it kill the other to survive, or does it have mercy on it (the less powerful one) and maintain peacefulness?

Let us see what lies ahead. We have some more questions.

What happens when a dog is put in a “kill or be killed” situation, tearing apart its veneer of civilization or in a situation where it has to act like a human being?

What happens when a dog is seen from a human point of view, giving it human traits? The most important question of all is,

Is there any point where both animals and humans meet characteristically? 

Jack London’s The Call of the Wild unfolds with utmost clarity a whole lot of answers to our questions. John Griffith “Jack” London, born in San Francisco, California, in 1876, is one of the most potent and popular storytellers of his time. 

The Call of the Wild is categorized into the genre of animal fiction in which London quite exquisitely delineates a dog’s adventurous life strewn with unending troubles and dotted with traps of cut-throat competition.

The author endeavors to see animals and humans in one mirror, reflecting the same traits and characteristics. Man fights Man, Dog fights Dog, Man fights Dog, Dog fights Man. Fight for what? Who wins and who loses? What is the difference between Man and Dog? What does London want to tell us?

Let us enter into the story for unequivocal answers.

Buck, a Saint-Bernard and half sheepdog, the central character of the fiction, is kidnapped at the outset and shipped by the kidnappers to Klondike to pull the sled. Buck’s transition from light into darkness signifies how to survive in a situation where everyone is fighting against and competing for food, wealth, and power.

London tries to merge the wild into the civilization, but he fails as the two worlds may have many things in common, but they have different weather.

Buck’s original owner, Judge Miller’s gardener Manuel Has, “beset by heavy gambling debts,” kidnaps Buck and sells him to a burly man in exchange for some money.

At the outset of the fiction, it is evident that the disloyalty of the gardener (man) stifles the dog’s loyalty (animal). Disloyalty unconditionally wins and is handsomely paid off.

Why? Because man is powerful. When evil thoughts possess him, he is more dangerously powerful. Has is a specific example. He does not only betray his Master, Mr. Miller, he also shatters the dog’s trust in him and disregards his (dog) ingenuousness.

When the gardener hatches the plan to sell him, the dog unsuspectingly responds to his call. Why does he do so? We can easily assume that he believes everyone like Mr. Miller, who is affectionate, is civilized and must be reasonable and generous. A loyal animal never betrays his master, but a man does. He betrays both his master and the dog.

Later in the first chapter, Buck encounters Morgan, the man with the club. Morgan’s physical descriptions do not prompt us to think him to be tall and impressively robust, though he had “wide, strong shoulders.”

However, his power is signified by the club he wields, and

“this club in Morgan’s big fist began Buck’s education for the new world he was entering (p. 18)”.

The club is the thing that intimidates Buck, and it is the symbol of power, which holds back the dog from fighting back against Morgan. In the following chapters, we see how a loyal, unsuspecting, and credulous Buck begins to learn the harshest rules of nature:

“kill or be killed.”

After a time, Buck picks up the rules of nature. Gradually, he realizes that in both the wild and the civilized world, the bigger and more powerful feed on the smaller and less powerful. He further senses that only hunger decides who is to die and who is to survive in nature.

Thus, it acquires all the survival mechanisms by resorting to force or making peace. When nature was sawing through Buck to bring out the fears and apprehensions to teach him the cruelest means of survival, Buck met John Thornton.

Thornton rescued him from the brutal torture of Hal, one of Buck’s owners, and befriended him in the perennial struggle of ‘kill or be killed. We see an unwavering friendship grow between a man and an animal and continue to survive until Yeehats kill Thornton. In the end, Buck returns to the wild where he belongs.

Reasonably and intelligently, London exposes the mysterious face of reality and shows how the weak survive each day. London elicits the energy and strength of an animal for survival. The book contains 25 chapters, each opening up with new suspense and adventure.

Those who want to demystify the the-characteristically-not-so-distinct line of difference between man and animals must have a close look at the book and read it between the lines.

London’s The Call of the Wild” is undoubtedly a riveting account of an animal’s frightful adventures, insinuating a vivid reality in which man and animal meet at the same point when man divests himself of the cover of humanity.

Muwaffaq Muhsin

Lecturer of English

Cambrian College, Dhaka.

Leave a Comment