A review of The Call of the Wild
《野性的呼唤》影评
The Call of the Wild,novel by Jack London, published serially by The Saturday Evening Post in 1903 andthen as a single-volume book by Macmillan & Co.thesame year. It is often considered to be his masterpiece and is the most widelyread of all his publications.
Summary
The story follows Buck— a mix of St. Bernard and Scotch collie—throughout hisjourney as a sled dog. Buck’s story begins at the house of Judge Miller inSanta Clara,California. Here, Buck is abeloved domesticated pet, living comfortably. However, after gold is discoveredin the Yukon territory of Canada,Buck is stolen by one of Miller’s gardeners as thedemand for sled dogs increases. The gardener sells Buck to dog traders andmakes a profit, and Buck is soon shipped north, abused and beaten as he goes.Along with a sweet, unassuming dog named Curly, Buck is sold to two governmentcouriers, Fran?ois and Perrault, who put
him to work as a sled dog. Buck issoon overwhelmed by his surroundings, particularly when he sees a group ofhuskies attack and kill Curly. As Buck is forced to adapt to the wild, hisprimitive instincts begin to surface. It is during this time that he makes anenemy of the lead sled dog, Spitz. The two fight a number of times, and Buckconsistently undermines him in the hopes of diminishing his authority. After afinal, decisive battle, Buck kills Spitz and appoints himself as the new leaddog—something he convinces his owners to go along withthrough his sheer stubbornness. With Buck as lead dog, the team begins makingtrips in record time. The team, along with Buck, is eventually sold to a mailcarrier who forces the dogs to carry arduously heavy loads. This work resultsin the death of one of the dogs.
The team is sold again, this time to American goldhunters named Hal, Charles, and Mercedes. The three are wildly inexperienced:they overload the sled, and they beat the dogs unnecessarily. Halfway through along journey, they begin to run out of food, causing more than half of the dogsto die of
starvation. Along their journey, and still with a long way to go, theyhappen upon the camp of a man named John Thornton. Thornton warns them that theice they are about to cross is thinning and that it is not safe to cross. TheAmericans disregard him and attempt to leave. The other dogs obey, but Buckrefuses to move onto the ice. Hal beats him viciously until Thornton steps inand cuts Buck free. The Americans continue without Buck, only to fall throughthe thinning ice and perish alongside the remainder of their dogs.
Buck becomes devoted to Thornton, and he even savesThornton from drowning. One day, Thornton brags that Buck can pull athousand-pound load and bets more than a thousand dollars on him. After somestruggle, Buck is able to do so, and his master uses the money to search for ahidden mine deep in the Canadian wilderness. Buck’s love for Thornton becomes challengedby his growing desire for the wild. He begins to disappear into the forest forlonger intervals of time, but he always returns to Thornton. During theseexcursions, Buck hunts bears and moose
and even befriends a wolf. One day Buckreturns to find Thornton and his crew killed by Native Americans the novelcalls Yeehats. Angry beyond comprehension, Buck attacks and kills severalYeehats and scatters the rest. Buck then ventures into the forest and becomesthe leader of a wolf pack. He becomes known by the Yeehats as Ghost Dog;because of his swiftness, his shadow is all they can glimpse. Despite beingfully wild now, Buck still returns to the place of Thornton’s death each year to mourn the loss of his best friend.
Analysis
The Call of theWild is set in the midst of theKlondike gold rush of the1890s. During this time, more than 30,000 people traveled to the area near theconvergence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers in Yukon territory, just east ofwhat is today Alaska. As described in the novel, many of these people used sleddog teams to traverse the rough coldterrain. The setting created by London in TheCall of the Wild is somewhat reminiscent of the American West —idyllic unmappedterritory that holds rich secrets
waiting to be discovered by those braveenough to travel into the unknown. Opportunity teems in the Klondike regionwith the promise of gold, yet, as in the American West, with this opportunitycomes risk and the threat of harm.
London’s depiction of Buck’s struggle in this setting shows the influence of, and isidentifiable with themes within, various strains of naturalism,individualism, and social Darwinism. Buckbegins as a pampered pet dog who is then forced to adapt to survive in thewilderness of Canada. He becomes more and more individualistic as he adapts: atfirst he submits to “the law of club and fang,”doing all he can to avoid beatings and fights, but, as timeprogresses, he becomes more self-concerned. He fights Spitz willingly numeroustimes, an individualistic act as well as a manifestation of the “survival of the fittest”concept importantto social Darwinism. Buck’s final transition into afull strong individual who has triumphed over others is the moment he realizesJohn Thornton is dead, which removes any remaining
tethers to the civilizedworld. After this Buck encounters a pack of wolves that he will come to lead;his strong individualism gives him thepower of leadership.
Reception
When it was published in 1903,The Call of the Wild was an immediate success. The single-volumeversion of the novel also included illustrations, which enhanced its descriptionsof Canada’snatural beauty. Though it has been and is still, at times, classified as achildren’s book, its themes and overarching narrativeare suited for mature readers. The novel was banned in 1929 in Italy andYugoslavia, supposedly because of London’s openlysocialist views. In 1933 it was burned by theNazi Party for similar reasons. The 1935 film The Call of the Wild, directed by William Wellmanandstarring Clark Gable, focuses solelyon John Thornton and Buck, while a 1972 film of the same name, starring Charlton Heston, staystruer to the plot of the novel.