Book Talk - I Am Malala

The Call of the Wild - Classic sem. 2

The Call of the Wild

The Call of the Wild by Jack London is considered to be a classic due to it being a timeless book; a book that can be related to at any age at any time.  The Call of the Wild is about survival, something that everyone can relate to, whether it's at school, work, or literally out in the woods.  This book is relevant to today in that it makes the reader think 'what would I do if I were him?' or ' what if I had to survive in the wild'. A reader can have these questions no matter what time period it is.  Another reason why this book is considered a classic is because it illustrates a man and his companion's (dog) relationship, which a vast number of people across the world can easily relate to due to dog being widely popular.

The Call of the Wild does introduce a new idea into society.  Its new idea is the idea of being stranded in the wilderness, having to fend for yourself and survive.  This is an idea that many people at the time have wondered, the 'what if I got lost in the woods?', and if that person did how would he or she react.  Furthermore, it introduces the use of dogs to help the main character survive.  This was the first book at the time that went into depth about how a person managed to survive and his thoughts in the wilderness.  Another idea that was introduced to the rest of the world was the use of dogsleds. Only a few people actually used dogsleds as a mode of transportation, so the book allowed the reader to gain knowledge about something he or she had not known before.  

The response to the release of The Call of the Wild was exhilarating, interesting, and unbelievable. America and the rest of the world felt exhilarated when the book was read due to the fact that Thornton, the main human character, befriended Buck, a seemingly wild canine.  This also brings in the other two responses, interesting and unbelievable.  The readers could not believe that a wild canine and a ordinary human could created a relationship as close as Buck and Thornton's.  Most everyone who has heard or read this book thinks that their relationship and dependency on each other is greatly interesting.  Furthermore, there were a lot of people reading The Call of the Wild when it first came out, because of the radical storyline and idea of befriending a wild animal, becoming so great of companions.

The Call of the Wild fully captures the time period of the early 1900s.  It captures the early 1900s because many new and seemingly outrageous inventions and ideas were being made and discovered. Some examples of these inventions and ideas were the Ford Motor Company produced the first automobile, Mary Anderson invents windshield wipers, and The Wright Brothers fly at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.  To emphasize this idea, The Call of the Wild brings a whole new idea into 1903 and to subsequent years; that idea is creating a bond with a wild animal, relying on that animal, and in general spending a great deal of time out in the wilderness, with that animal or not.  In addition, The Call of the Wild greatly gives the readers an insight into how the wintery terrain of the Klondike and Alaska were at the time.

By writing The Call of the Wild, Jack London is trying to emphasize that the wilderness is not all barbaric and desolate.  He's trying to illustrate a sense of naturalism.  London is trying to show how a wild animal can be friendly to and get along with a human.  Ultimately, London is also showing how it is okay to stray from the norm; not everyone would go and do what Thornton did in his book.  London wanted to show the reader how real-life was in the Canada and Alaska, and give the reader an insight to the hardships the people and animals of those regions faced.