The Transformation

Buck, the lead character in the novel is already a enormous dog as he is a cross between a sheep dog and a saint bernard. He starts off at looking like a thick animal ready for anything due to his already muscular physic, and some how transforms himself into an even more threatening machine. Buck gains experience through his times in the arctic which help him with this transformation both physically and mentally. Eventually He is striped of his companions and finally alone in the wild as the fiercest animal in the Alaskan woods.

He lived a life of luxury in Santa Clara Valley as the pet of a Judge. But unfortunately this life doesn't last long as he is "flung into all things primordial" (19). Buck begins his transformation as a sled dog when he is sold of because of the gold rush in Alaska. He delivered the post by sled each day which took a toile on Buck. He was use to meals that he didn't have to fight for and that were much larger than the regular ration in his new life. Buck was given a daily ration of one pound of fish per day which was often stolen by the other dogs. Buck learned to eat fast and eventually tame his body to correspond with the small meals. He watched and learned how to steal, to remedy the constant hunger pains experienced everyday. The next difficulty that Buck needed to over come was the consent thrashing of mother nature in the form of unpacked snow and devastating storms, which hardened bucks muscles and thickened his paws. Buck was sold from owner to owner experiencing life threatening events which lead to the completion of his transformation.Buck's last and final owner was John Thornton who cherished the presence of Buck and gained his respect rather quickly. Buck is allowed to roam in the woods by him self where he gains the instinct and determination of his wild ancestors. No prey was ever to big for Buck as he never gave up until he tasted the flesh of the opposing beast. It is here that Buck becomes the fiercest animal in the woods.

The book started with the pains of the harsh nature and of his fellow primates, and ended with the wilderness engraving the ways off his ancestors into his mind. Buck is beaten into shape by his experiences which in turn mad him a beast of the wild.