Call of the Wild Review

Jack London's Book Call of the Wild captured, to me, the cruel tug-and-pull of nature vs man.

This book shows how a drastic change in setting can affect you mentally and physically. When Buck first appeared in this book he was a lavish pampered dog; that all changed when he was taken and sold. I believe the betrayal of his trusted gardener ,Manuel , helped start off his UN-trusting nature towards humans when he sold him in chapter 1. Buck soon ended up in Alaska pulling superfluous sleds on the brumal Klondike Trail. This change from lavish to extreme changed Buck, he became harsh and wise in the ways of life or death situations.

Buck was teamed up with a team of sled dogs ranging from happy newcomers to cold experienced sled dogs. His biggest rival was Spitz, a cold, ruthless, and ferine pack leader. Whom Buck soon kills in a fight over Spitz killing Curly in chapter 3.

This book was a bit slow for me, and I would have liked to see more points of view than just Bucks. I wish the author would have played more off of the relationship between Buck and Thornton too. Not to say I didn't enjoy the book, I did like how Jack London showed the story through Buck.

I really recommend this book for anyone who is interested in nature, history or just a good read.

Anthromorphism poem

I am just a jellyfish,
Floating in a current of dreams,
I feel no sorrow or pain,
For you see I am just a jellyfish,
I am a small being in a giant current of expectations,
But that doesn't bother me,
For you see,
I am just a jellyfish.

The Destroyer

In the cases of Call of the Wild and Titanic, both show a great amount of responsibility of the cost of life. The designers and the ships captain are responsible for the Titanic, while Buck is responsible for responsibility of his team.

The deaths of the passengers on the Titanic are partially the fault of the captain and the ships' designers. The Captain is mostly to blame, because if he wasn't in such a hurry to make the voyage he wouldn't have encountered the formidable iceberg. Though the ships designers are to blame as well, the ship wasn't designed to hold that much water and wasn't fully equipped with enough lifeboats. The Captain and the designers were both responsible for the safety of the passengers.

In the book Call of the Wild, Buck is responsible for the lives of his teammates and even before he became a sled dog he was responsible for the safety of the children. Buck knew that was his primordial responsibility though and tried his best to protect them. If something happened to cost them their lives then it would be on Buck.

These are great examples of knowing and not knowing that you are responsible for lives ; and realizing the cost. Would you be able to handle such responsibility?