The Call of the Wild
Jack London (1903)
“A stolen dog unlearns civilization one brutal Yukon winter at a time — and becomes something older and truer than any master could own.”
Short Summary
Buck, a large domesticated dog living on a California estate, is stolen and sold into service as a sled dog during the Klondike Gold Rush. Through successive brutal masters, starvation, and the violence of the Arctic wilderness, Buck's domesticated instincts erode and his ancestral nature awakens. Under the one master he loves — John Thornton — Buck earns legendary status among men. When Thornton is killed by Yeehat Indians, Buck's last tie to civilization breaks, and he joins a wolf pack, answering the call of the wild permanently.
Detailed Summary
Buck is a 140-pound cross between a St. Bernard and a Scotch shepherd, living in comfort on Judge Miller's Santa Clara Valley estate in 1897. When gold is discovered in the Klondike, the demand for sled dogs explodes, and Manuel — a gardener's helper with gambling debts — sells Buck to dog traders. ...