Call of the Wild Review
Chapters 1-7
How would you respond to the
following?
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Discuss the Law of the Club; explain how
Buck learns it and its significance as a
theme.
Discuss the Law of the Fang; explain how
Buck learns it and its significance as a
theme.
Explain how Buck retrogressed when he
came to the Northland.
How would you respond to the
following?
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Dominant Primordial Beast (DPB) is the
primitive will to survive. Which characters
were ruled by DPB. Show instances of
characters going against their DPB and
risking their lives out of love or loyalty.
How do Hal and Mercedes represent male
and female stereotypes, respectively?
What is the Call of the Wild? What holds
Buck back from answering the call?
In the Southland, why is
trouble brewing for every
strong dog?
Men are rushing to the
Northland to look for
gold and they need
strong dogs
What literary device is this?
Foreshadowing Buck’s
kidnapping
Why does Jack London make
Buck’s first owner a judge?
Judges interpret LAWS;
epitomize “civilization”
in the Southland
Who are Toots and Ysabel?
House dogs at Judge
Miller’s place
What extended metaphor is
used at the beginning of
Chapter 1?
Buck is a king
How is Buck described at the
beginning of Chapter 1 that
shows he is a product of
civilization?
Buck is a sated aristocrat;
has the dignity that comes
of good living and universal
respect; is egotistical
Who are Elmo and Shep?
Buck’s parents
What is a tonic and health
preserver for Buck?
Love of water
In what year is Buck
captured?
1897
What is Manuel’s one
besetting sin?
Chinese gambling
What is Manuel’s one
besetting weakness?
Faith in a system
What emotion did Buck show
when Manuel sold him?
Anger
What does Buck’s collar
represent?
Civilization—it had to be
forcefully removed from
him
How did Buck view men on
his journey North?
As tormentors
Why isn’t the man in the red
sweater given a name?
He is a symbol of the
potential in men to
show primitive (brutal)
behavior
What does the red in his
sweater represent?
savagery, blood
How many times did Buck
charge at the man in the red
sweater?
Over a dozen
After the man in the red
sweater, Buck was beaten but
he was not _____.
broken
Buck was introduced to the
reign of primitive law. What is
the Law of the Club?
A man with a club is a
lawgiver, a master to be
obeyed, though not
necessarily to be made
friends with….and
Buck was introduced to the
reign of primitive law. What is
the Law of the Club?
A single dog cannot win
a fight against a man
with a club in his hand
What does the club
represent?
Power, brutality, man’s
ability to use his brain to
create weapons
What is Jack London saying
about mankind as a whole?
We are weak animals,
but we have intelligence
to create weapons to
dominate and protect us
Who is a French-Canadian,
black-faced giant?
Francois
Who is a little weazened man
who spat broken English?
Perrault
What do Perrault and Francois
do for a living?
Carry dispatches for the
Canadian government
Who is a good-natured
Newfoundland?
Curly
Who had accompanied a
Geological Survey into the
Barrens?
Spitz
Who smiles in a treacherous
sort of way?
Spitz
Who is a gloomy, morose
fellow?
Dave
Who steals Buck’s food on
the first night?
Spitz
What does Buck think of
Perrault and Francois?
He thought that they were
fair men, calm and impartial
in giving justice, and wise in
the way of dogs
Why does Buck feel ashamed
on the deck of the Narwhal?
He had never been in
snow before
What simile is used to
describe Buck’s first day on
the Dyea beach?
Like a nightmare
How does Buck describe the
men and animals on Dyea
beach?
Savages who knew no
law but the law of club
and fang
What is Buck’s vicarious
experience on Dyea Beach?
Watching Curly’s death
Describe the Law of the Fang
Fight to the death
Wolf manner of fighting
Other dogs form a circle
Never go down, no fair play
Why does Buck hate Spitz
after Curly’s death?
Spitz laughed at it
What was sorely hurt when
Buck was placed in the
harness the first time?
His dignity
Which dogs are brothers?
Billee and Joe
Who has an excessive good
nature?
Billee
Who is sour, introspective,
with a perpetual snarl and a
malignant eye?
Joe
Who was known as The
Angry One?
Sol-leks
Who was the incarnation of
belligerent fear?
Joe
Who had a single eye that
flashed a warning of
prowess?
Sol-leks
Why was Buck’s shoulder
slashed three inches?
Sol-leks did not like to
be approached on his
blind side.
Why did Buck flee
ignominiously his first night?
He tried to sleep in the
tent of the men
Why did Buck bound out of
the snow his first morning?
He thought he was in a
trap (genetic memory)
What is genetic memory?
Knowing how to do
something without ever
having done it before
Who was the wheeler dog?
Dave
Which two dogs became alive
and alert in the traces?
Dave and Sol-leks
How does Perrault honor
Buck?
Checking his feet
What did Perrault pride
himself on?
Knowledge of the ice
Why couldn’t Buck be a
fastidious eater?
Other dogs would take
his food
Who is a clever malingerer?
Pike
From which dog did Buck
learn to steal?
Pike
What event marked Buck’s
capacity to adapt?
Stealing bacon
Which law existed in the
Southland?
Law of love and
fellowship (respect
private property and
personal feelings
What is the “more fundamental
and primitive code” that is beaten
into Buck?
Civilized, he would die for
his morals.
Decivilized, he has to
abandon his morals to
survive.
T or F: Buck stole for the joy
of it.
False—he stole
because he was hungry
What does retrogression
mean?
Retro = back
Gress = to step
To step back into a
more primitive time
What is Buck’s most
conspicuous trait?
To scent the wind and
forecast the weather a
night in advance
What does Spitz do to Buck at
Lake Laberge?
Steals his nest
“…the unexpected happened, the
thing that projected their struggle for
supremacy far into the future…” is an
example of what device?
foreshadowing
What event broke forth
pandemonium in the camp?
Attack of the starving
huskies
After the attack, which dog
fled over the ice?
Billee
What did the starving huskies
eat?
Sled lashings, canvas
coverings, Perrault’s
moose-hide moccasins,
chunks of the leather whip
and traces
Which dog goes mad?
Dolly—from rabies
Nothing is said to daunt which
character?
Perrault
In Spitz’s view, why was Buck
an exception to the Southland
dogs?
Buck adapted quickly
and lived
In what four traits did Buck
match Spitz?
Strength, savagery,
cunning, and patience
What was the defiance of life,
pitched in minor key, the halfsobs?
The huskies’ howls
What is the paradox of living?
To feel most alive, you
have to forget
everything around you
When did Buck experience
“the sheer surging of life, the
tidal wave of being”?
Chasing the snowshoe
rabbit
What quality did Buck
possess that made for
greatness?
imagination
As a leader, at what did Buck
excel?
Giving the law and
making his mates live
up to it
What did Buck describe as
“monotonous, machinelike
regularity”?
Life with the Scotch
half-breed and the mail
train
What did Buck sometimes
dream of?
Judge Miller’s place,
swimming tank, Toots
and Ysabel
What did Buck more often
dream of?
Man in the red sweater,
death of Curly, fight with
Spitz, good things to eat
What were far more potent
memories?
Memories of his
heredity (genetic
memory)
Was Buck homesick?
No
Who is the hairy man?
Man’s ancestor
What happened to Dave?
He had internal injuries
and they shot him
What hurt the dogs the most
as the mail train entered
Skagway?
Their feet
Who is a middle-aged,
lightish-colored man, with
weak and watery eyes?
Charles
Who is nineteen, with a
revolver and knife?
Hal
What was the most salient
thing about Hal?
His belt with cartridges
What did Hal’s belt advertise?
His callowness
(inexperience)
What did Mercedes not want
to leave behind?
The tent
What advice did the
townspeople give Hal,
Charles, and Mercedes?
Get rid of ½ the load
and get twice as many
dogs
What were the six new dogs
called?
The Outside dogs
What did Buck think of the
new dogs?
Looked at them with
disgust; could not teach
them what to do
What did Hal trade his Colt
revolver for?
Frozen horse hide
Which dog was the first to go
under Hal, Charles, and
Mercedes?
Dub (shoulder blade)
It was Mercedes’ custom to be
_____
helpless
What was Mercedes’ essential
sex-prerogative?
Making the lives of her
men unendurable if they
did not do what she
wanted
What was her “lusty last
straw”?
Mercedes had to sit on
the sled
Why did Hal and Charles
come back for Mercedes?
She is family
How did Buck describe his life
with Hal, Charles, and
Mercedes (simile)?
As in a nightmare
Which dog had to be knocked
on the head with the ax?
Billee
Which four dogs fell into the
lake with Hal, Charles, and
Mercedes?
Teek, Pike, Sol-leks,
and Joe
What metaphor is used to
describe the dogs as they
cling to life?
like a flame about to be
extinguished
Why does Jack London stop
to describe the beautiful
spring weather at this point?
Using ANTITHESIS, he
makes the dogs’
condition seem even
worse
Why is Thornton at his camp?
He froze his feet the
prior December
Who had a doctor trait?
Skeet
Who is a huge black,
demonstrative dog?
Nig
When with Thornton, what
was Buck’s for the first time?
Love, genuine,
passionate love
Thornton saw to the welfare
of his dogs as if they were
____.
His children
Why didn’t Buck let Thornton
out of his sight?
Out of a fear that no
master was permanent
Faithfulness and devotion
were Buck’s, yet he retained
his _____ and _____.
Wildness and wiliness
Because of his great love,
what could Buck not do?
Steal from Thornton or
his dogs
In the wild, Buck must master
or _____.
Be mastered
What did not exist in the
primordial life?
Mercy
What was mercy mistaken for
in the wild?
Fear
Why was Buck “older than the
days he had seen and the
breaths he had drawn”?
He had the knowledge and
emotions (genetic memory)
of his ancestors throbbing in
him.
Because Buck’s genetic
memory surfaced, what
“slipped farther from him”?
The claims of mankind—he
no longer wanted to be with
man in civilization.
What was Buck willing to do
for Thornton on the bluffs of
the Tanana River?
Jump off a 300-ft. cliff
Why did a miner’s meeting
need to be called at Circle
City?
Buck tore out Black
Burton’s throat
How did Buck and Thornton
go against DPB at Forty Mile
Creek?
Each risked their lives
to save the other
Who called Thornton’s bluff at
Eldorado Saloon?
Matthewson
Who loaned Thornton money
at Eldorado Saloon?
Jim O’Brien
What was the bet at Eldorado
Saloon?
Whether Buck could
pull a 1,000 pound sled
for 100 yards and break
it out
What was steeped in tragedy
and shrouded in mystery?
The lost mine, or “Lost
Cabin”
Did Thornton and his partners
ever find the Lost Cabin?
No, but they did find
gold.
How did the men travel?
Indian fashion (salt,
rifle, tools)
With Thornton, Buck again
envisions the hairy man. In this
world, what was the salient thing?
fear
While traveling with Thornton,
what was Buck compelled to
do?
Explore the wild
When was Buck at last
answering the call?
Running side by side
with his wolf brother
What was Buck able to kill?
Bear, two wolverines,
moose calf, a bull
moose
What color was Buck?
Brown on his muzzle
and a splash of white
down his chest
What did Buck inherit from
his father?
Size and weight
What did Buck inherit from
his mother?
Muzzle and shape
What three things made Buck
formidable?
Wolf cunning, dog
intelligence, and
experience in the wild
What three things could Buck
do in an instant?
Perceive, determine,
and respond
What trait did Buck use to
bring down the bull moose?
patience
Why was the bull moose at a
disadvantage?
He had been shot by an
Indian (arrow in the
rump)
When did Buck allow passion
to usurp cunning and reason?
After he found Hans
What did the Yeehats think
Buck was?
Evil Spirit
Who remained faithful to
Thornton to the last?
Skeet
What did Buck have to do to
join the wolf pack?
Fight several of the
pack’s fiercest fighters
After a time, what do the
Yeehats tell of?
A Ghost Dog