The Call of the Wild by Jack London

 

“He was mastered by the sheer surging of life, the tidal wave of being, the perfect joy of each separate muscle, joint, and sinew in that it was everything that was not death, that it was aglow and rampant, expressing itself in movement, flying exultantly under the stars.”
― Jack London, The Call of the Wild

 One of the immense joys shared by my family, are our two Huskies, Luna (the baby) and ( I wanted to name him 'Ghost') Buddy, a pure white male, with a teddy bear like nature. This month I chose, for the 'Back to the Classics' the prompt "a classic about an animal, or with an animal in the title", and I couldn't think of a more appropriate book to read, then 'Call of the Wild' by Jack London.

For the majority of the book, my heart was absolutely crushed to read about Buck's servitude in the extremely harsh conditions he lived through and barely survived under the cruelty of his masters. I would say owners, but it was only the last man, John Thornton, who saves him, that I would narrowly call Buck's owner, as by that time Buck begins to realize, HE IS his own master. 

From time to time, even with my two huskies, I get a  sense of the 'primal' animal within them. On cool nights, Buddy would rather sleep out under the moon and stars on grass, than the comfort of our home. Luna on the other hand is quite comfortable to sleep on my husband's side of the bed, after he gets up to leave for work. As well as, Luna's mother who passed away last year, our Zelda was the Alpha female. She ate before Buddy, and Luna didn't even attempt to eat, until Buddy had finished. We tried to feed them separately, except Zelda would claim each and every bowl as her own. This was just the order of things and one can not come between the natural order of things. The three of them were a pack and often played together. It's been a year since Luna lost her mother and she really did go through a grieving period like I'd never seen. 

It was the most 'human like' behavior I'd witnessed in an animal. Which was another favorite part in the story, after Thornton is killed, Buck feels, like

 'It left a great void in him, somewhat akin to hunger, but a void which ached and ached, and which food could not fill..."

Aside from the sheer violence and brutality of the story, it is masterfully written. The parts I especially liked were how Buck enjoyed his freedom and the scenery of the woodland, as well as his encounters with the Timberwolves, which reminded me especially of my own dogs. 

This novel satisfies A Classic about an Animal for the Back to the Classics 2021 Challenge.