By Jack London
Jack London - BrainPop
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BrainPOP | Jack London
Jack London
Born in San Francisco on January 12,
1876
 His family was very poor and he had to
leave school after 8th grade to work and
help support his family
 He was a big reader and went to the
library often to read books and learn
new things

Jack London

Jack London was an adventurer and
held many different jobs
 Pirate
 Whaler who went sailing to Japan
 Hobo – traveling across the United States
Eventually, he became sick and returned
home to finish high school and spent a
semester at college
 In 1897 he left college to head up to
Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush

Jack London
In 1897 he left college to head up to
Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush
 He did not become rich, instead he
learned all about the adventures of living
in the Arctic and began his career as a
writer

The Call of the Wild
Published in 1903
 Jack London’s most famous novel
 The story is told from the perspective of
a dog named Buck and his adventures
and life living in Alaska
 This book helped make Jack London the
most famous writer of his time period in
the world
 People loved his adventure stories

American West in the 1890’s

What do you think of when you think of
the American West in the 1890’s?
The Spirit of the American
West

Jack London and his stories embodied
the “spirit of the American west” and
living life on the frontier – the line
between civilization and the wild,
unexplored parts of America –
specifically Alaska
Setting of the Story

Place:
 Santa Clara Valley, California (for a short
time)
 Alaska
 Klondike region of Canada
○ Northland (snow) vs. Southland (sun)

Time: 1890’s
Santa Clara Valley
Alaska
Klondike Region
Where would you rather live?

Would you rather live in the snowy
Northland or sunny Southland?

How is the Santa Clara setting different
from Alaska and the Klondike region?
Anthropomorphism
Giving human qualities to non-humans
 Jack London wrote the story from the
perspective of Buck, a dog
 This technique is known as
anthropomorphism

Plot
Buck, the main character and
protagonist of the story, is a dog who
lives a happy, comfortable life in Santa
Clara
 He is kidnapped from his owner and
sold as a sled dog and sent to Alaska
 Buck has to fight for survival and
becomes uncivilized and goes back to
his wild, primitive, animalistic roots

Klondike Gold Rush

Klondike Gold Rush

The Quest for Gold in the West
Dog Sledding
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Welcome to Discovery Education Player
Characters
Buck
A powerful dog, half St. Bernard and
half sheepdog
 He is stolen from a California estate and
sold as a sled dog in the Arctic.
 Buck gradually evolves from a
pampered pet into a fierce, masterful
animal, able to hold his own in the cruel,
kill-or-be-killed world of the North.

Characters

Judge Miller - Buck’s original master,
the owner of a large estate in
California’s Santa Clara Valley.

Manuel - A gardener’s helper on Judge
Miller’s estate. Manuel kidnaps Buck
and sells him in order to pay off his
gambling debts.
Buck
Spitz
Buck’s enemy and the original leader of
Francois’s dog team.
 Spitz is a fierce animal—a “devil-dog,”
one man calls him—who is used to
fighting with other dogs and winning
 He doesn’t care about right or wrong

Francois and Perrault

French-Canadians who buy Buck and
use him as a sled dog to carry mail
Hal

An American gold seeker, Hal comes to
Canada in search of adventure and
riches.
Mercedes
Charles’ wife and Hal’s sister.
 Mercedes is spoiled and pampered
 She is meant to represent spoiled,
civilized women who do not belong in
the wild or wilderness

Charles

Hal’s brother-in-law and Mercedes’
husband. Charles shares their
inexperience and poor planning.
Hal, Mercedes, and Charles
They are inexperienced, terrible
masters, as they run out of food during
the journey and fight among themselves.
 Hal and his companions are meant to
represent the weakness of overcivilized
men and to embody the man-dog
relationship at its worst.

John Thornton
Buck’s final master, a gold hunter
experienced in the ways of the Klondike.
 The perfect man – dog relationship
 They both love each other deeply and
save each others lives
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Other Dogs
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Dave - A dog on Buck’s team

Sol-leks - An older, more experienced
dog on Buck’s team.

Curly - A friend of Buck’s, met on the
journey to the North.
Themes:
Survival of the Fittest

Only the smartest and the strongest can
survive in this world

BrainPOP | Natural Selection
The Power of Instinct
Human beings as well as animals have
natural instincts passed down through
the genetic code.
 Animal instinct is very important
throughout the story.
 Buck's ability to listen to his instinct
makes him more and more powerful and
draws him more and more deeply
towards the wild – why the story is
named Call of the Wild

Civilization vs. Wilderness

Civilization: human society
 Includes:
○ Science
○ Culture
○ Government

Wilderness: a wild region where only
animals live
 Examples:
○ Forests
○ Deserts
○ Mountains.
Power
All of the dogs have power, and must
use it in order to survive
 The dogs can give up their power to a
bigger and stronger dog and hope that
that dog will protect them.
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Dogs
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The Wild Side of Dogs