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Introduction:
The Call of the Wild is a dog novel by Jack London, published in 1903. The novel follows a domesticated dog, Buck, who sets on a journey from California and gets kidnapped and sold to be an Alaskan sled dog. His life gets instantly brutal and fatal to his life and he tries to get home. The historical setting of the novel is the Klondike Gold Rush which happened in the late 19th century in Canada.

Plot:
Buck, a strong dog with St. Bernard and sheepdog genes, lives a comfortable life on a California land. But everything changes when gold is found in Canada’s Klondike region, and people need dogs for sleds. Buck is kidnapped, sold, and beaten up to learn obedience. He arrives in the cold northern region of Canada and witnesses cruelty when another dog is killed. Buck becomes a sled dog for mail carriers and taps into his wild instincts. He fights for leadership and power and eventually becomes the lead dog by defeating Spitz. With Buck as the lead dog, the sled team of Francois and Perrault performs exceptionally well. But the team is given to a mail carrier who makes them carry heavy loads, which made a huge impact of brutal numbers of months. During a tough journey, one dog gets sick and gets shot and killed. The exhausted dogs are sold to inexperienced gold hunters, Hal, Charles, and Mercedes who treat them fatally. The humans mistreat the dogs, overload the sled, and run out of food for the sled dogs. The dogs starve and some die. They reach John Thornton’s camp, but Hal ignores warnings about the melting ice. When Hal tries to force Buck to move onto the melting ice, Thornton stops him and sets Buck free. As they continue, the ice breaks, swallowing both the humans and the dogs. Buck becomes devoted to his new master, Thornton. He saves Thornton’s life, defends him in a fight, and even wins a bet for him. However, Buck also feels a pull towards the wild and the wilderness. He joins Thornton and his friends in search of a hidden mine. While they search, Buck explores the forest, making friends with wolves and hunting animals. When Buck returns to camp, he finds that Indians have killed Thornton. Buck fights and scares them away, but then he leaves to live in the wild. He becomes the leader of a wolf pack and gains a legendary reputation. Every year, he returns to the place where Thornton died to mourn and remember him before going back to his wildlife.

Analysis:
The main character and protagonist of the Call of the Wild, Buck, goes through wilderness adventures and tries to find freedom for himself. He succeeds in seeking freedom but he did that because of his courage and his determination. Buck aims to adapt and dominate the wilderness. It shows Buck is a character with a determined and brave soul. When he came to be one of the Alaskan sled dogs, he had no control or power over what happened to him. However, he gets trained to navigate the wilderness. When he gets rescued by John Thorton, he gets a new opportunity in life. This connects to getting a rebirth in life like some of the religions’ beliefs. Buck was steadfast to Thorton that he wasn’t able to quickly adapt to the wilderness. However, when Thorton dies, Buck can’t easily get over Thorton and find closure but finally finds a way to adapt to the wilderness around him and navigate his way through the wilderness. After that, Buck joins a wolf pack in the forest. This new home provides him with the ultimate sense of freedom and symbolizes his adoption of an ancient way of life. While Buck may be a legendary beast, the author encourages the readers to applaud Buck for his success in his surroundings in the wilderness.

Conclusion:
The Call of the Wild is a novel by Jack London, published in 1903. It is about a mixed dog, Buck, who gets kidnapped and taken away to be one of the Alaskan sled dogs. He gets trained by other dogs in the pack and navigates his way through the wilderness. He finds a new opportunity to live out his life and get adapted to his surroundings. It is a brutal but happy ending novel that concludes the journey of Buck.