“The ancient song coursed through him and he came into his own again, and he came because men had found a yellow metal in the North.” (Pg.23) is one of the greatest lines in Jack London’s The Call of The Wild. It tells about the most important dog in the book, Buck.
Buck was born on an estate in California until he was put on a train to Canada where the Klondike Gold Rush was in full swing. He was then trained to become a sled dog. This is where he gained his more primal instincts to survive.
The modern dog evolved from wolves 15,000 years ago. The ideal picture of a dog is proud, loyal, and handsome. While the most prominent image of a wolf is a strong beast that hunts in packs and will kill anything it sets its eyes on. Buck combines the image of these two animals. Buck is physically a dog, but possess a wolf like ferocity when it comes to fighting. Yet he still has some doglike traits, he is loyal to only John Thornton after he saved Buck. Yet after John dies, he turns into a wolf. He remains a dog yet he fully transforms into a wolf like mentality.
During Buck’s journey, he faces many trails, some more painful than others. Yet he truly turns into what his circumstances forces him to be. All this is because man wanted the yellow metal in the north.
Great American Novels 