A symbol is something that stands for something other than itself. One of the symbols in the story is the club. For Buck, the club is a symbol of man’s power over animals. Buck learns the Law of Club and Fang from the man in the red sweater, a dog breaker.
When Buck is sent to Alaska to be on a sled dog team, he is miserable.
All was confusion and action, and every moment life and limb were in peril. There was imperative need to be constantly alert; for these dogs and men were not town dogs and men. They were savages, all of them, who knew no law but the law of club and fang. (Ch. 2)
Buck lived by the Law of Club and Fang after this. It meant that he would listen to whoever was stronger than him, whether dog or human. It was all about who was strong and who was weak. Thus the club is more than a club. It is a symbol of strength.
Another important symbol in the book is the Call of the Wild itself. The call is not a literal call, although it can refer to a wolf’s howl. The actual Call of the Wild is the draw to return to nature. Buck was a domesticated dog, but the longer he was in the wild the wilder he got.
Whereupon the old wolf sat down, pointed nose at the moon, and broke out the long wolf howl. The others sat down and howled. And now the call came to Buck in unmistakable accents. He, too, sat down and howled. (Ch. 7)
After Buck is rescued from the people, and then loses John Thornton, he returns to the wild. Buck answers the call because he has learned the ways of the wild, and it is preferable to being answerable to humans. He is strong enough to become like a wolf.
No comments:
Post a Comment