Perseverance In The Call Of The Wild

Words: 636
Pages: 3

The novel Call of the Wild, by Jack London, is set during the late 19th century. The main character is Buck, a Saint Bernard dog. The novel follows Buck’s journey as an ordinary house dog to the leader of a wolf pack. Throughout the novel the author uses the themes of perseverance and loyalty to portray Buck’s character through his dangerous journey from being held in captivity to freedom.
Perseverance is the first dominant theme highlighted throughout the novel. Buck enjoyed a relatively simple life inside of a wealthy house until he was kidnapped by a houseworker of his owner. The worker then sold Buck on the black market to the owner of a dog sled. While part of the dog sled team he is given a difficult time by the dog leader,
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During Buck’s expedition with the sled team the team stopped at a camp late at night to rest. Following the dog's lack of food, Buck refused to let his fellow sled dogs continue on, as Mercedes, the dog sled owner, had demanded. As a result, Buck was severely beaten. John Thornton, the camp owner, was quick to recognize that their was a problem between Buck and his sled owners. John then purchases Buck from the owners in order to provide him with the security. “You poor devil”, said John Thornton, and Buck licked his hand.”(66). Buck’s feelings for John became immediate. In return, Buck demonstrates his devotion to John by saving his life twice. John and Buck were traveling in search of gold, crossing over a frozen piece of ice and John fell through the ice Buck jumped in the water grabbed John and pulled him up on the land. On another occasion Buck saved John’s life while in pursuit of gold in the southlands of Alaska. Along the way they stopped at a bar and a brawl involving John, and a few other people, broke out and Buck came to the assistance of John. “There was no warning, only a leap in like a flash, a metallic clip of teeth, a leap out equally swift, and the man's face was ripped open from eye to jaw.”(p.17). Ever since John found Buck he has been extremely loyal to him until a group of indians came and killed John leaving Buck on his own in