Second Quarter Blog 4

       In the last part I read in Jack London's Call of the Wild, Buck meets John Thorton, who tries to stop Hal, Charles, and Mercedes when they want to cross the rivier when the ice is melting. After Thorton realizes he can't change their minds he doesn't interject. But when Buck decides he cannot go anymore and refuse to stand up to pull the sled, Buck is beaten by Hal. When Thorton sees the mistreatment of Buck he stands up for Buck and takes Buck from the ropes holding Buck to the sled and decides to keep him. The three continue on and halfway across the river all three fall into the broken ice along with the team of dogs never to be seen again. 

       Thorton helps Buck back to health, which strengths their affection for each other. Buck views thorton as his true master and wants to do anything for him. For example he saves John from a river when believed impossible and moved 1,000 pounds on a sled for 100 yards when Thorton asked him to. Whenever Buck and Thorton are traveling in the woods, Buck finds his "long lost brother" who is another wolf. He finds in the wolf his inner desire to leave civilization and be wild. But his love for Thorton leads him to return to their camp. One day when Buck leaves the camp he comes back and finds indians that killed Thorton. Buck, once he kills the indians for killing Thorton, is now free to follow his call of the wild. In this book, Romantstic ideas are represents by the fights Buck had with temptation: stay with Thornton, or kill things? Be civilized, or be wild? But whenever Thorton dies, Buck is then free to run with the wild dog packs.

Second Quarter Blog 3

Up to now in Jack London's Call of the Wild, Buck has been with three different owners. The first were the men Francois and Perrault, the second being a Scotsman who carries mail, and the third a trio of Hal, Charles, and Mercedes who are first time owners of sled dogs. Now that Buck is in command of his team, he begins to uncover more of his inherited instincts in the wild that he didn't realize before. This idea of Buck becoming more of a dog of leadership and one with nature expresses the connection to the period of Romanticism. The death of one of the teammates, Dave, contributes also to Romanticism in the emotions all the dogs feel with his passing and nature. Dave is shot because of the mistreatment the Scotsman enforces on the dogs, which is going farther and carrying more with less rest and time to recuperate. Dave's death also reminds the reader of the lesson Spitz taught Buck about the law of club and fang. With Buck and the rest of his team being so worn down from the exertion the Scotsman puts on their bodies, they dogs truly want to just rest. But the dog's inner pride about the work they are doing compels them to keep going. This portrayal of the dog's loyalty connects to Romanticism through the way London expresses the dogs emotions, which seem human like. 
The next owners the Buck and his team are sold to are three people who are inexperienced with sled dogs and traveling in the snow. The dogs being completely worn out does not help with these three being inexperienced. Because they do not know how to take care of the dogs, they overfeed them the first few weeks which leads to the dogs starving because there is no food left to eat. Also, the three overpack the sled, which causes the sled to be too heavy to pull. Because the dogs are so exhausted they cannot move the sled, so Hal tries to whip the dogs into pulling the sled but does not work. The overpacking of the sled causes the dogs to become even more tired with the load they carry each day until they eventually either die or stop doing what the three say. The representation of Hal, Charles, and Mercedes by London reflects the idea of the negative side of civilization through their characteristics of vanity, foolishness, stubbornness, and ignorance. 

Second Quarter Blog 2

      Up to his point in the book Call of the Wild, by Jack London, Buck has gone through many experiences that have transformed him into the dog he always sensed he could be. After Buck is sold by one of the people form his home and put into the hands of the man with the red sweater, Buck is sold to two men named Francois and Perrault. These men train Buck to be a sled dog, which opens Buck up to his nature and wild side as a dog. Buck quickly learns from another sled dog, Spitz, about "the law of club and fang", which provides Buck with the realization that you need to kill or be killed to survive as apart of the wild. 
      From the lesson that Spitz taught Buck about death, a rivalry develops between these two dogs. Spitz is the leader while Buck is the new dog to the team and Buck feels his inner desire to be primitive and apart of nature. Buck continues to want the top position of lead dog, and eventually leads to a fight to the death between the two dogs. After Buck is cut and bitten by Spitz, Buck breaks Spitz's legs which leads to his death. With Spitz dying after the fight with Buck, Buck assumes the position of leader of the sled. In all the experiences that Buck goes through with his first sled team have the theme of nature. Buck's newfound awareness of his inner wolf that makes him feel free and truly a dog contributes to the idea of Romanticism through nature and the emotions of Buck.