Jack London

The Call of the Wild Jack London

The Call of the Wild is a novel by Jack London published in 1903. The story is set in the Yukon during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush-a period when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The novel's central character is a dog named Buck, a domesticated dog living at a ranch in the Santa Clara valley of California as the story opens. Stolen from his home and sold into the brutal existence of an Alaskan sled dog, he reverts to atavistic traits. Buck is forced to adjust to, and survive, cruel treatments and fight to dominate other dogs in a harsh climate. Eventually he sheds the veneer of civilization, relying on primordial instincts and lessons he learns, to emerge as a leader in the wild. London lived for most of a year in the Yukon collecting material for the book. The story was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post in the summer of 1903; a month later it was released in book form. The novel's great popularity and success made a reputation for London. Much of its appeal derives from the simplicity with which London presents the themes in an almost mythical form. As early as 1908 the story was adapted to film and it has since seen several more cinematic adaptations. Jack London's merciless take on the survival of the fittest as set in the Alaskan wilderness during the Klondike Gold Rush was enthusiastically received in a time when Western society was eagerly interpreting the world through Darwinian eyes. The story became an instant classic, and insofar as humanity continues to wrestle with the implications of a naturalistic outlook on human affairs, "The Call of the Wild" remains relevant with its stark portrayal of nature, red in tooth and claw.