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Again an amazing story by Jack London, he can delve so deeper into a dog's world. Just a few weeks ago, I reviewed 'To Build A Fire' I never read anything like that before. But maybe I should not compare these two stories here, and focus only on 'The Call of the Wild' which tells the story of a wonderful Dog, Buck, and all that he goes through. In doing so, the writer makes us see who as humans we truly are– mostly if not always. It is difficult to identify with some of the dog masters displayed in the story and understand their acts of the cruelty. But deep down one knows that man is capable of inflicting violence on animals as well as other human beings in very real ways,
Very often the story, though beautifully written, reads like a Hollywood film. One is completely immersed in Buck's life. In parts, one even forgets that he is a dog, so much human-like attributes are assigned to him. This aspect of the story, at times, feels overdone. I love Buck when I see him as Buck, and not when he is presented as a dog-modified-into-human.
Very often I feel that this could so easily be a history of some slave. Each time, I notice too much resemblance with the history of slavery (which is undoubtedly entwined with the DNA of this story), my enjoyment of the story slackens. But I guess the moment the story goes far in this direction, the writer does not let it go out of hand and reveals an authentic, beautiful, aspect of Buck which is singularly his– it is this that makes me so drawn to the story.
The story itself is such a powerful critique (and celebration) of human-animal relations. While there are cruel masters, there are friendly caretakers who understand dogs and are fairly nice to them. There are those who are foolish, sentimental and even dangerous. For instance, we see how three spoilt brats, who knew nothing about dogs and snow, get drowned in a frozen lake. So much pain, cruelty can be avoided in life (any life be it human or otherwise) if one only acts a bit sensibly.
There are also some chilling scenes in the story about how things play out in the wilderness. Buck kills his opponent Spitz as he wants to lead the pack. When he fights Spitz, there are sixty wild dogs surrounding and watching them. Once Buck knocks the other down and walks away, the pack jumps on the half-dead spitz, within moments there is no trace of spitz left. It is chilling because as a reader one feels like we are not very different from animals when stripped off outer layers of our being.
On another level, the story suggests that we should not fight our primary natures. Buck, I suppose, a mixed breed dog wants to be in the wild, but a strong sense of love and loyalty toward his master stops him. Not doing what one really wants to, not fulfilling the needs which are central to one's being are ways by which we slowly, but surely, annihilate ourselves.
Very often the story, though beautifully written, reads like a Hollywood film. One is completely immersed in Buck's life. In parts, one even forgets that he is a dog, so much human-like attributes are assigned to him. This aspect of the story, at times, feels overdone. I love Buck when I see him as Buck, and not when he is presented as a dog-modified-into-human.
Very often I feel that this could so easily be a history of some slave. Each time, I notice too much resemblance with the history of slavery (which is undoubtedly entwined with the DNA of this story), my enjoyment of the story slackens. But I guess the moment the story goes far in this direction, the writer does not let it go out of hand and reveals an authentic, beautiful, aspect of Buck which is singularly his– it is this that makes me so drawn to the story.
The story itself is such a powerful critique (and celebration) of human-animal relations. While there are cruel masters, there are friendly caretakers who understand dogs and are fairly nice to them. There are those who are foolish, sentimental and even dangerous. For instance, we see how three spoilt brats, who knew nothing about dogs and snow, get drowned in a frozen lake. So much pain, cruelty can be avoided in life (any life be it human or otherwise) if one only acts a bit sensibly.
There are also some chilling scenes in the story about how things play out in the wilderness. Buck kills his opponent Spitz as he wants to lead the pack. When he fights Spitz, there are sixty wild dogs surrounding and watching them. Once Buck knocks the other down and walks away, the pack jumps on the half-dead spitz, within moments there is no trace of spitz left. It is chilling because as a reader one feels like we are not very different from animals when stripped off outer layers of our being.
On another level, the story suggests that we should not fight our primary natures. Buck, I suppose, a mixed breed dog wants to be in the wild, but a strong sense of love and loyalty toward his master stops him. Not doing what one really wants to, not fulfilling the needs which are central to one's being are ways by which we slowly, but surely, annihilate ourselves.
