The Multiple Themes in The Call of the Wild

The Call of the Wild， a naturalistic novella written by Jack London， depicts a dogs experience of returning to the wild. Buck， the protagonist， was originally a civilized dog who lived a peaceful life as a nobleman in Judge Millers house. Suddenly one day， Buck was sold by Manuel， a helper of the gardener， who was desperate for money. From then on， Buck turned over a new leaf of his life and stepped on a long journey to where he belongs to.

After reading the papers that also aim at finding the themes of the book， I found that nature， love， and competition are three common themes that are repeatedly mentioned. “One thousand readers， there are one thousand Hamlet.”， so， as one of the thousands of readers， I also have some personal points to provide based on the former researches.

Under the view of symbolism， there lives a person in Bucks heart， so the enlightenment we got from Bucks experiences also has some significance to human. First， survival of the fittest is the most obvious theme. To survive， we have to give way to some rules， but this does not mean that we should give up what we want， so the second one is the freedom of spirit. Although we have the rights to pursue our dreams， our relationships with others hinder us， so the third one is love. It is love in our hearts that makes us a full person. These are the same to Buck， so survival， freedom， and love are the three main themes of The Call of the Wild.

Adaption is the best response one can give to a cruel world. When Darwin put forward his theory of “Survival of the fittest in natural selection”， corruption and depravity make it an excuse for them to apply their law of the jungle which means kill or to be killed in the society. Being the weak， one can only struggle to adapt to survive. When Buck was first sold， he learned the law of club and fang quickly， because he realized that he had to obey the man with club in hands if he wanted to survive. When Buck was placed in the team to pull the sled， he could do nothing but follow the directs to toil. When Buck was sold to Perrault and Francois， he chose to give up his dignity to satisfy his stomach. To survive， Buck did what he would never do as a noble dog with morality， “He did not rob openly， but stole secretly， out of respect for club and fang.” （Chapter II） To Buck， nothing is as important as survival， so he was forced to learn the new rules for living in the new world. He had to do something that he thought to be evil before， which reflected his compromise to life.  Therefore， to respect the cruelty of the world， adaption is the only way that one could resort to.

Freedom of spirit can be interpreted as ones freedom of doing what he wants. Dream is what one cannot give up to pursue even if there are thistles and thorns lying on the way. When the first employee wrote down “The world is so big that I want to see it” on his resignation， many others express the same wish of following their hearts. However， almost everyone is just saying， because the reality does not permit them to do so. People cannot change their family background， but they should not give up to pursue what they want， because their spirits are free. For example， if one wants a successful career， he can still move his way up without relying on his family， such as Benjamin Franklin， whose experience from rag to rich has inspired many Americans to work hard. In this book， Buck always knew what he wants. He could not change his fate of being sold again and again as the weak compared to men with clubs， but he always fought for himself as much as possible. Jack London said： “He wanted it because it was his nature.” （Chapter III）Bucks nature pushed him to compete with Spitz for leadership， without concerning the result which may at the cost of his life. Although in the process， men hurt him for his disturbing the order， he never thought of giving up. Many years ago， when Buck became the leader of the wolves at last， he even thought that the men with clubs had nothing to be afraid of. Despite all these difficulties， Buck lives for himself and for his freedom of spirit. Therefore， one should always fight for himself， and one day he may find that he has overcome everything that he thought to be hard before.

Love， the softest part in ones heart， sets moral standards for people and makes the world beautiful. Buck hesitated to respond to the call from the wild for his love to a man—Thornton， who saved him in his despair. Buck cannot abandon Thornton just like people cannot do whatever they want without considering their families and friends， and that is why there is self-discipline. Although “The dominant primordial beast was strong in Buck” （Chapter III）， he gave his heart to Thornton and helped Thornton for several times. It is the love in Buck that made him a favorable figure in the book， or he would only be a real beast. As to human， love gives us happiness and forces us to be a full person. Every cloud has a silver lining， and love remains to be a beam of sunshine in the dark society.

Buck finally returned to the wild after the death of Thornton. His desperation seems like the hopelessness of a man who has lost the last thing to concern in the world. In different situations， we may find it hard to adapt to it， but we have already immersed into it before we realize， because we always push by the pressure around us to go forward all the time. In such a society， we always complain about having too many things to worry about， but if one day there is nothing to complain， we will find that life becomes meaningless， because worry is closely attached to love， so having nothing to worry is another kind of sadness.

With the multiple themes， The Call of the Wild reflects the real life of human.

References：

[1]陳琳娜.论杰克·伦敦《野性的呼唤》中的自然主义主题[J].科教导刊，2011，6.

[2]杜娟.“Survival of the Fittest” in The Call of the Wild[J].海外英语，2016，13.

[3]董天，袁国涛.《野性的呼唤》中多重主题的解读[J].名作欣赏， 2008，10.

[4]付利.论《野性的呼唤》中体现出的多重主题[J].安徽文学， 2011，7.

[5]李小冰.大狗巴克与《野性的呼唤》的多重主题[J].才智， 2014， 13.

[6]李星亮：杰克·伦敦的人生哲学——《野性的呼唤》主题分析[J].安阳师范学院学报，2004，6.

【作者简介】李怡霖，河北工业大学外国语学院。