The central character of The Call of the Wild is a dog named Buck。 The story started at a ranch in Santa Clara Valley, California, when Buck was stolen from his home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska。 He became progressively feral in the harsh environment, where he was forced to fight to survive and dominate other dogs。 By the end, he shed the veneer of civilization, and relied on primordial instinct and learned experience to emerge as a leader in the wild。 This story is apparently a dog’s story。 However, as Jack London himself said, The Call of The Wild was “an animal story, utterly different in subject matter and treatment from the rest of the animal stories that have been so successful。” Have a deeper look into the novel, The Call of the Wild is also a story about human。 Jack London makes a reflection of the real human life through the dog - Buck’s life。 He treats animals like human beings, for example, he gives the dogs with the innate intelligence, using “he” and “they” to call them completely。 On the other side, Jack London treats human beings are just like animals。 He recognizes no essential difference between human beings and animals。

1。2 Literature review

The Call of the Wild is a very famous novel。 There are many scholars who have many researches focus on various topics。 A famous American poet Carl Sandburg said, The Call of the Wild is one of the greatest stories about dogs, and it explodes those abstract and uncertain motivations that are rooted in the deepest part of human spirits。 Chinese scholar Chen Guangming said that The Call of the Wild is not a general animal story, but a modern fable with profound meaning。 

Many scholars have made detailed studies about the naturalism in The Call of the Wild。 Chinese scholar Sun Xuhua thinks, The Call of the Wild contains the philosophy of "environment determines destiny", which reflects the naturalism, while naturalism emphasizes the use of scientific experiments to prove the laws of nature and social, and emphasizes the use of genetic rules to clarify everything。 Jack London created a unique conception of the naturalistic description of the dog, which is very convincing, makes the readers understand the importance of genetic traits according to Buck's life trajectory ( 2006,(6): 37-39)。

There are also many scholars who have made studies about the theme of The Call of the Wild and Jack London's philosophy of life。 Li Xingliang scholar said, Jack London expressed his belief of “survival of the fittest” in this story, and he used the theme of love to make up for the cruelty of reality which reflected in the story。 By the incarnation of dog, the author expressed his admiration for Nietzsche's "Superman" theory and his self-appreciation, and he pulled the story into the reality of the rational world through the appreciation of hard work and the interest of adventure。 The transcendentalism style of wording and thinking in this story is so naturally, leaving no trace and talented (2004(6): 90-92)。 Tan Yanping also thinks that “survival of the fittest” is one of the themes of The Call of the Wild。 We can find the “fittest” image of Buck throughout the story。 Xie Yuan scholar thinks that in the story, Jack London expresses anthropocentrism critically, and reveals some ideas which transcend anthropocentrism。 The novel compares the dogs with the humans, praises the dogs and criticizes the humans at the same time (2002(4): 98-100)。来自优W尔Y论W文C网WWw.YoueRw.com 加QQ7520,18766

On the aspect of wildness and humanity, many scholars analyses Buck's experience and the reasons for his return to the wild。 Liu Fuqin wrote, it is true that the masters’ cruelty and indifference caused the increasing of wildness in Buck and made him respond to the wild call (2006(6): 35-39)。 Zhong Weihong believes that Buck is a dog of civilized society at the beginning, and the society is gentle and orderly; but in the end, the moral embodied in Buck vanished, and Judge Miller's dog, who used to devote himself to the principle, turned into a free - killing, non - compassionate beast (2005(00): 268-270)。 Zhao Qian said that The Call of the Wild describes how Buck was transformed from a mongrel dog to a wolf。 It was a confrontation between civilization and savagery, and in the end, the wild triumphed over morality。 The call of the wild in his heart and the death of his master make Buck decide to cut his attachment to the human world and go back to the forest (2011(8): 100-101)。 However, Zhao Liping scholar believes that Buck's transformation is not complete; his journey to the north is a gradual recovery of the wildness which is buried deep in his memory。 Buck runs between the civilized world and the wild world, although his beloved master died, he still failed to cut off his connection with human society completely。 Although he is away from the human race, running in the wilderness freely, his soul is still wandering in the two worlds (2008(10))。