Animal vs. Wild

This conflict is a thorn in the paw of Buck throughout the book. The first obstacle in the way of Buck's survival is the constant whipping of the nature around him. The ice takes a tole on Buck as well as the dark and freezing nights. Buck learns the ways of the wilderness and finds techniques to keep the unforgiving powers of nature on his side.

Buck like every dog on his sled team, feels the pain of running on ice of hours on end, which in comparison is like running on glass. It stops Buck in his tracks, making it impossible for him to even move after weeks of running. But surely enough Buck struggles through running with the help of some boots that his owner fashioned for him. By learning from the other dogs how to escape the freezing cold nights by burying himself in the snow to keep warm. Unfourtuntly its not just the weather that Buck had to deal with, but the scaring of other animals which made is journey even more difficult and rewarding. Buck is attacked in the night by a pack of starving wolves ready to feed on anything. The wolves got away with a full stomach eating the majority of the rations and even the leather lashings off the sled, but at the cost of many severe injuries caused by Buck and the rest of the team.

The conflict of Animal vs. Wild hurts Buck mainly physical but at the same time his wounds grow back stronger making this conflict very beneficial. Buck after taking his turn experiencing the wild for what it really is, he grows accustom to it many surprises and hard ships allowing him to live comfortably in the wild.