On the Disillusionment of American Dream Through Buck in The Call of the Wild

吕颖

【Abstract】The Call of the Wild，written by the famous American novelist Jack London，has attracted a large number of both readers and scholars ever since it came out.It provides the public with a fresh perspective through narrating the whole novel from the point of view of the protagonist Buck，a dog.Against the background of countless people flooding into the Alaska to search gold in order to fulfill their dream of becoming rich，which，to some extent，represents the American dream at that time，this novel vividly mirrored the then phenomenon，so illuminating and thought-provoking that it is of great value to analyze the disillusionment of American Dream through Buck.Therefore，this paper aims at exploring the disillusionment of American Dream through analyzing Buck and his rich life experiences.

【Key words】American Dream； The Call of the Wild； Buck

The Call of the Wild narrates the experience of a dog-Buck.At the very beginning，Buck lived comfortably at a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley.Then Bucks life experienced an enormous change from the day when he was stolen and sold to a stranger.In the following days，Buck was tortured a lot and learned many lessons.This novel attempts to expose the disillusionment of American Dream through the experiences of Buck.

Bucks life can be categorized into four periods.In the first period，Buck enjoyed his own life.This is the fulfillment of his dream，as well as that of the lower class he represents.However，like the bubble，simple and beautiful as it is，the dream was disrupted quickly.He was sold and began his second period of life.Then Buck realized that he stood no chance against a man with a club and that club was a revelation.He also learned the law of fang，and attempted to better adjust himself to the changing conditions.The transition from the first period of Bucks life to his second phase of life，to some degree，represents the transition from the transient realization of American dream to the disillusionment of American dream.The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States，a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success，and an upward social mobility for the family and children，achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers.

The moment that Buck was saved by John Thornton started his third phase of life.From John Thornton，Buck felt genuine passionate love for the first time.In return，Buck hold his deepest and the most sincere love toward him.The peaceful and occasionally adventurous life staying with John Thornton enabled Buck to feel the unprecedented happiness.His dreamy life and the remote memory concerning the past happy days，almost forgotten，came to life.He was living an ideal life and made great efforts to maintain the length of this kind of life.Because of the previous experience，he was afraid of losing what he had already owned for the moment.Studying it from a deep level，this reflects the common psychology of the class to which Buck belongs that even when they fulfill their dream，they are frequently disturbed by the constant worry about the disillusionment of their simple and beautiful life.As for Buck，however，the happy life ended with the sudden death of Thornton.His dream disillusioned again，and he decided to answer the call of the wild and then became the leader of a group of wolves.The death of John Thornton cut off Bucks last hope for the society and it seems that answering to the call of the wild is the only choice.And Bucks returning to the forest represented the the thorough disillusionment of his dream which at a broad level means the disillusionment of American Dream.

There are two things the writer stresses in this paper.The first one is that any creation of figure is by no means an individual but the miniature of more than one person，thus extracting the common nature of people in the society.That is also why different readers have similar opinions toward the same work，and why people with different personalities can find the shadow of themselves from the figure.The second point is that though the whole story is narrated from the point of view of Buck，it is more than just a story.It is an allegory.Therefore，it is also concerned with revealing something about human beings.Even Buck himself may be regarded as a representative or spokesman of the lower class.Therefore the disillusionment of Bucks dream also mirrored the disillusionment of American Dream.

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