The Call of the Wild

A veteran of the North, John Thornton is Buck’s final human master in The Call of the Wild. In his introductory scene at the end of Chapter 5, John immediately displays wisdom and experience. He warns Hal and Charles against traveling across the frozen lake, knowing it’s apt to crack, but they don’t listen and die soon after. Unlike Perrault and François, John isn’t an agent of a government agency, and while he needs money, he doesn’t value it above being in nature. He’s content living in the wilderness and capable of surviving in it: “John Thornton asked little of man or nature. He was unafraid of the wild. With a handful of salt and a rifle he could plunge into the wilderness and fare wherever he pleased and as long as he pleased” (39). When Buck is under John’s care, the Arctic weather remains relentless and harsh, but they never struggle like previous sled teams did. John’s knowledge and respect of the natural world grant him a calmness that other characters lack, and his content and humble persona show the beneficial attributes of honoring and embracing nature.

Where Hal and Charles pushed their dogs to the brink of death, not allowing them time to rest, John is patient and caring. He helps Buck regain his strength when the dog first falls under his care. Buck returns the favor by saving John from a rushing river. Again, John lets Buck’s broken ribs heal before they press onward. John’s loving actions motivate Buck to bond with John more than any human, even Judge Miller back in Santa Clara. Buck isn’t the only dog John cares for either. He respects and cares for every dog under his care, and Buck is endlessly grateful:

This man had saved his life, which was something; but, further, he was the ideal master. Other men saw to the welfare of their dogs from a sense of duty and business expediency; he saw to the welfare of his as if they were his own children, because he could not help it (32).

John embodies the ideal way to care for animals, and he receives loyalty and devotion in return. Through love, respect, and experience, John lives happily in the Arctic, showing the North doesn’t have to be so harsh and cruel with the right personality traits.

Spitz is the first leader of Perrault and François’s sled team. Cruel and ruthless, he leads the team through fear and violence. Early in the story, in Chapter 2, Spitz attacks the mild-mannered Curly without any preemptive warning, killing her without reason. This plot point establishes Spitz’s brutal style of leadership. Buck hates Spitz after witnessing Curly’s death and begins to rebel against him. Spitz doesn’t wonder why members of his team hate him and continues to be violent: “From then on it was war between them. Spitz, as lead-dog and acknowledged master of the team, felt his supremacy threatened by this strange Southland dog” (15). Spitz’s aggressive personality causes tensions to rise in the group, but his behavior also allows him to survive. During their climactic battle, Spitz proves himself to be a capable fighter against Buck: “Spitz was a practised fighter. From Spitzbergen through the Arctic, and across Canada and the Barrens, he had held his own with all manner of dogs and achieved to mastery over them. Bitter rage was his, but never blind rage” (18). Spitz might be hated for his brutalness, but he demonstrates how those traits allow him to survive. Spitz meets his end not from nature, but by Buck, a member of his own team. His defeat, and the apathy of the other dogs, shows that while Spitz can survive for a time with his behavior, his leadership style isn’t sustainable.

With his prideful and domineering personality, Spitz creates narrative tension and serves as a foil to Buck. Buck starts The Call of the Wild as the king of his home. Within the span of a few chapters, he’s thrown into a new kingdom—Spitz’s. Spitz’s violent acts brings out Buck’s own violence, giving Buck’s character arc complexity: Will Buck have to become more like Spitz to survive? In the end, Buck and Spitz settle their differences not with diplomacy, but with violence; in the wild, sometimes that’s necessary. London utilizes Spitz’s character to force Buck to change in dramatic and complex ways, in addition to highlighting the ruthless side of living in the Arctic.