Survival of the Fittest

Survival of The Fittest

Jack London’s, The Call of the Wild, is an excellent work of naturalism. This novel follows Buck through his survival, transformation and his answer to the call of the wild. Buck starts out as a domesticated dog, and then is forced to leave his home and enter a strange environment with brutal men, social hierarchy, and harsh weather. Darwin said “survival of the fittest”. Buck is a good example of this but was it Bucks free will to want to survive or was it his natural instincts to survive?

In the beginning of the story the reader is introduced to Buck, a domesticated dog who is loved by his owner the Judge. In the first few pages there are several passages that illustrate to the reader that although he is domesticated, Buck has a desire to be outdoors. “But Buck was neither a house dog nor a kennel dog. The whole realm was his” (3). Buck enjoyed being outside and going on “wild adventures” (3). Even in the beginning Buck felt the calling and as the story progresses he experiences more and more of the wild and his natural instinct to hunt and to be free is increased.

Buck is taken away from the comforts of his domesticated life and thrown into a new life in the Alaskan wilderness and he begins to change. During his transformation, Buck has to learn how to adapt to a different way of life then what he knows. He quickly learns “the law of the club and fang” (18). This could also be looked at as survival of the fittest. The club is the law of man, the master of the dogs. Buck has to either obey and serve the man or be killed. Buck learns this law after being beaten by the man in the red sweater. He also learns about the law of fang, which is the laws of the social order of the dogs such as, when Curly tries to be friendly with other dogs and is ripped apart. Buck realizes, “so that was the way. No fair play. Once down, that was the end of you” (20). Buck has two masters, man and dog, now Buck has to use his instincts to become his own master. In chapter two Buck learns a lot about the way of life, social order, and survival. While he is learning the way of the Klondike all his instincts that