Main Characters: Buck is a mixed breed of dog, both Saint Bernard and Scottish Sheppard. He weighs about 140 pounds and was treated like a king. Buck was first owned by Judge Miller, who lived in the Santa Clara Valley, and loved Buck very much. The next character is Manuel, who is a gardener and a gambler. Manuel kidnapped Buck to pay off his gambling debts. Another character was noted only as, “The man in the red sweater” and was the one who taught Buck the law of the club, and where his place is. Perrault and Francois were the first people to buy Buck, and they also bought a dog named Curly. They had a vicious dog named Spitz, who attacked Curly until her death. The next people to buy or use Buck to their benefit was Mercedes, Hal, and Charles. They fell into an ice cold lake and froze to death. The last people to own Buck are John Thorton and Narwal.
Settings: The book takes place in the year 1897 during the gold rush in the Santa Clara Valley, where Buck first lives before he gets kidnapped. When Buck is kidnapped, he is then transported to Seattle, and then on to the Dyea Canyon Trail and Beach. He is then transported from California to Alaska, where he is fascinated by the first sight of snow. The last place Buck goes to is the Yukon.
Introduction: At the beginning of the book, Buck lived like a king. Manuel stole Buck from Judge Miller. The man in the red sweater taught Buck the law of the club. Next, Buck learned the law of the fang when Spitz killed Curly. Buck is now learning survival skills, and to be a sled dog.
Point of View: This novel is told from the omniscient point of view, which could also be referred to as the third-person view. The omniscient point of view helps reader understand the emotions and actions of the character by being able to tell everyone and everything's emotion or action, instead of the focus being looked through one person or object.
Conflict: The main conflict of the story is that Buck is being constantly shipped and used as a slave for whomever, and doing whatever he is told. Buck has to deal with being kidnapped and learning the “law of the club”, which is that man overcomes animal. Buck also learns the “law of the fang”, which is whoever is stronger is dominate. On top of all this, Buck has to deal with not learning to trust people, and that he misses the people that were very close to him and cared about him.
Rising Action: At first, Buck is a big dog, but maybe not the strongest, and wisest when it comes to living in the wilderness. Buck was a bit weak for how big he was and not the smartest.
Climax: In my opinion, I think the greatest suspense or part that gave me the most interest was when Buck was fighting Spitz. It was a battle to determine, which dog is stronger and more dominate than the other. It gave you a feeling that the book could end right there, or Buck would win, and the story continued on.
Falling Action: I would say that maybe Buck didn't feel like giving up everything he has been through. Buck seemed to enjoy both being very loving when he wants to, but very fierce and almost wild-like when he was alone in the forest. In the end, Buck chose to live his life in the wilderness with the wolf pack.
Resolution: In the end, John Thorton dies, and Buck is left with no master. He finds himself living the rest of his life in the wilderness with the wolves, and hunts for his prey.
Opinion Questions:
- My favorite part of this novel was when Buck and Spitz fight. This scene; or part of the novel is my favorite because it shows how fierce Buck really is, and how far he is willing to go to win.
- My least favorite part of the novel would have to be the beginning. I say this because in the beginning it wasn't that exciting, and nothing too significant to the story happened.
- If I could change any character in the book I would probably have changed Judge Miller. I'd have to say that it didn't really seem like Judge Miller paid much attention to Buck, but only gave him things that he wanted.
- I wouldn't recommend this book to my friends, only because this book wasn't the type of book that would interest me
