The Great Survival——Analyzing the hero of the Call Of the Wild, Buck

作者簡介：鄭艷麗（1982-），女，河南濮陽人，碩士研究生學歷，新鄉醫學院外語系教師，助教，研究方向是英美文學。

劉蕾蕾（1986-），女，河南武陟人，碩士研究生學歷，新鄉醫學院外語系教師，助教，研究方向是英美文學。

【摘要】《野性的呼喚》是杰克.倫敦的第一本最暢銷的書， 該書雖篇幅不足百頁，情節也較簡單，卻被視為美國文學的一部經典。本文試圖分析主人公巴克在一次次的挑戰中其頑強的性格，表達了一個真正偉大的適存者，從而也暗示了適者生存理念。

【關鍵詞】性格 變化 生存

【Abstract】 The call of the wild is the first best seller of Jack London. Thus Jack London is best known for his book the call of the wild. Although its has less than one hundred pages and a simple plot， it is considered as classic of America literature. This thesis attempts to analyze Buck’s stubborn characters through Buck challenge himself time and time again， what is more， the thesis will contact with modern life. The most important opinion is expressed that success means an adaptation to circumstances，a coordination of inner energy and external force.

【Key words】 CharacterChangeSurvival

Buck， a privileged， dignified and lovely dog， was born in a big house， in the sun-kissed Santa valley， Judge Miller’s place. He grew up as a member of the judge’s family， and live a rich life. Buck was neither house-dog nor kennel-dog. During the four years since his puppy-hood he had lived the life of a stated aristocrate. When gold was found in the north of America. Many people rushed to the north. Many tidy-water dogs， strong in muscle and with long hair to keep them warm were sold for hauling sled in north. Buck could not escape this bad luck. The fate of Buck penetrate this novel from beginning to the end， so understanding the characters of buck is key point of this novel and understanding the author’s idea.

1 Buck ——the one who has high fighting spirit.

Facing the cruel living environment， Buck never yields to fate. At the bottom of its heart， there is still strong fighting and rebellious spirit. After sold to the dog monger by Manuel， Buck hits the railing and bites toward that man crazily. Several times during the night he sprang to his feet when the shed door rattled open， Expecting to see the Judge miller or the boys at heist. But each time the joyful bark that trembled in Buck’s throat was twisted into a savage growl. He stormed and ragged at them through the bars. For two days， Buck neither ate nor drank. In his anger he had met the first advents of the express messengers with growl. He flung himself against the bars， quivering and frothing. For that’s the biggest outrage to his dignity， his anger waxed and waxed. Waking from the coma， which caused by whipping， he bites the man’s finger. Under the whip and stick， he still fights them back again and again， despite detrainment and mode， till he is beat to lose sense. Once， when Buck pulls sleigh for Hal and Charles， and passes by the camp of Thornton， they are given sincere advice. But the three fools refused to change alter the scheme. The whip flashed out， here and there， on its merciless errands. Sol—leeks were the first to crawl to his feet， Teek followed， Joe came next， yelping with pain. Pick made painful efforts， twice he fell over， when half up， and on the third attempt managed to rise. Only Buck made no effort. He lay quietly where he had fallen， the lash bit into him again and again， but he neither whined nor struggled. Though Hal exchanged the whip for the customary club. Buck refused to move under the rain of heavier blows， which now fell upon him. Under the strong power and force， Buck would rather die than to yield. He deviances human beings that do harm to him， that is reflects Buck’s high fighting spirit.

2 Buck ——the one who dreams new life eagerly.

Buck arrives in the icy northland where is far away from civilization， and quite different with the sun shining southland. But here in northland， Buck fights against poor condition and finishes a wonderful and moving song of life. He enjoys the challenge life and dislikes the idling and boring life in southland. He changes the over—particular life style and fashion. His development was rapid; his muscles become as hard as iron， and he grows callous to all ordinary pain. He achieves an internal as well as external progress. His mind is also extraordinarily strong. Being acute and clever， he stands out his kind and takes the leading position.

The scene that Buck’s pursuiting the rabbit is written quite well， full of energy and strength. “Buck led the pack， sixty strong， around bond after bench， but he could not gain， lies down low to the race， whining eagerly， his splendid body flashed forward， leap by lead， in the wan white moonlight. And leap by leap， like some pale frost wraith， the snow shoe rabbit flashed on ahead.”such chase of the life in nature is so much harmony， natural and splendid. It indicates a sort of universal belief， the order of nature world， and individual wisdom and ability. It is the upper-rising spirit， which moves us and makes us exciting about such kind of life. After the death Thorton， Buck replies the call of the wild， a new life condition; then he is back to the free， happy， and adventurous northern forest. From that， we can feel the eagerness Buck to the new life.

3 Buck—— the cruel and curving dominator

After all， Buck is still a dog. Its nature as a dog is described vividly. He is not only brave and cruel; but also curving and treacherous. He has a rich imagination and is good at playing trick. To make his purpose realized， he uses every means， by fair means or foul. He is a talent leader. At first， he causes conflicts between the dog pucks; then when the dog-driver Spitz is punishing the disobeying dog， buck stands up to Spitz and violate him openly， because of buck’s interference and his covert mutiny， a general insubordination sprang up and increased， the efficiency of the dog pack is decreasing. Next， buck takes a good opportunity， besides imagination. He begins the life-and- death struggle with Spitz. Finally， he defeats the practiced fighter Spitz and takes his supremacy. Buck， as the dog-driver， reds the dog pack immediately. At a bound buck picks up the details of leadership; and where judgment was required. He is also quick in thinking and quick acting， he showed himself the superior. Even he is much more cruel than Spitz. Tthe first night in camp， Joe， the sour one， was punished heavily—a thing that Spitz had never succeeded in doing. Buck simply smothered him by virtue of superior weight， and cut him up till he ceased snapping and began to whine for mercy. The general tone of the team picked up immediately， it recovered its old-time solidarity. And the dogs leapt as one unity in traces again. Buck’s leadership talented also dumbs Fran?ois. Buck wins the dominator position firmly.

4 Buck—— the loyal and passionate devotee

On Buck， there is the true and passionate love. When he led his dog pack to reach the camp of john Thornton， where he seems to be at the end of his life， Hal beats him almost into death with the club. He encounters his life benefactor——john Thornton who saves him from Hal’s club. And takes care of the dying Buck， as he was his little baby. Buck recovers. The genuine passionate love arouse in him for the first time. This he had never experienced at judge miller’s， down in the sun-kissed Santa Clara valley. with the judge’s joys， Hunting and tramping it had been a working partnership; with the judge’s grand sons， a sort of pompous guardianship; and with the judge’s himself， a stately and dignified friendship. But love that was feverish and burning， that was adoration， that was madness， it only had calices john Thornton to arouse. Thornton rescuers Buck and loves him with heart and soul. while Buck returns Thornton with double love， protecting him carefully and loyally. For Thornton， Buck would like to do all the things. There is rapport between them without the words. Eyes can convey the exchange of their hearts. As the author writes， to buck， nothing is greater than Thornton’s command. To examine Buck’s loyalty， Thornton order buck to jump from the cliff. Buck replies the command without hesitation. The next instant Thornton is grappling with Buck on the extreme edge. In the bar， Burton， a man evil-tempered and malicious， had been piddling a quarrel with a tenderfoot. When Thornton stepped good-natured between， Burton struck out to Thornton， without warning. Straight from the shoulder， Buck rose up in the air as he left the floor for Burrton’s throat. At the heart of buck， there is only Thornton. His love to Thornton is genuine and pure. He cares for Thornton every minute and every second. Thornton slipped into the stream which was flying down-stream in a current as swift as a mill-race， and was carried down-stream， toward the worst part of the rapids， a stretch of wild water in which no swimmer could live. Buck had sprung on in the instant. At the end， he rescured his owner without caving of his own life. In this accident， Buck broke three ribs and hurt heavily. Once Thornton bet with Mathew son， that Buck could move the sled， loaded with a thousand pounds of flour. In the intense cold， the runners had frozen fast to the had-packed snow. Buck， according to Thornton’s order， threw himself forward， tightening the traces with a jamming lunge. His whole body was gathered compactly together in the tremendous effort. The modes writhing and knotting like live things under the silky fur. He won fame and money for Thornton. Buck’s love to Thornton is really shocking and moving. But such harmony life lasts a short time. Thornton is killed by Yeehats in the dispute of golden driving. Because of his great love for Thornton， he lost his head， Buck， a living hunicane of fury， hurling himself upon them in a frenzy to destroy， he sprang at the foremost man， it was the chief of the Yeehats， ripping the throat wide open till the rent jugular spouted a fountain of blood. He did not pause to worry the victim， but ripped in second man， there was no with standing him. He plunged about in their very widest， teaming， rending， and destroying. Inconstant and terrific motion which defied the arrows discharged at him. In fact， so iconcevably rapid was his movement， and so closely was the Indians tangled together， that they shot one auother with the arrows. Then a panic seized the Yeehat’s and they fled in terror to the woods， preordaining as they fled the advent of the evil spirit. Of cause， because of the love to Thornton， Buck cares nothing. Then， he kills human beings who are the dominators of the world. What is worse， he kills them under the law of the club and arrows.

During the shaping of the character of Buck， Jack London combines the features of human beings and dogs， and unifies them then. The complex and multiple features of Buck are depicted vividly. Buck’s humanity lies in his wild features， and his wild features， at some extent， reflects his humanity. Though there are some over-extreme views or ideologys in this novel and some unimitatable characters on Bucks， The call of the wild is still the limestone in the history American literature. The image of Buck has overwhelming ability to strike into the hearts of people， and has eternal value of literature. Buck becomes the representative that London writes stories about dogs， and takes a seat in the masterpieces of literature of the world， without exaggeration， be termed wonerful

Bibliography

［1］ Jack London. The call of the wild. Beijing: foreign language teaching and research press， 1994

［2］ xujing.Jack London and the call of the wild. Journal of zhongzhou university. 2002，10