Theme Of Loyalty In The Call Of The Wild

In, The Call of the Wild, there are many themes that the author, Jack London, mentioned. One of these themes was loyalty. Jack London focuses on all aspects of loyalty, ranging from the positive effects, to even the negative ones too. He uses the main character, Buck, as an example of these effects. In the story, Buck gains true loyalty to John Thornton, one of his owners. Loyalty also keeps Buck’s inner wolf at bay. Lastly, because Buck’s loyalty to is so strong, it is dangerous.

Of course, I’ll start with Buck’s loyalty to John Thornton. Buck and Thornton first met when Buck was beginning punished by a man named Hal. Soon after Buck saved Thornton life from an overturned boat. This is what first started their powerful loyalty. In the book, there is a passage in Chapter 6, it reads; "Thornton's command cracked out like a pistol shot. Buck threw himself forward, tightening the traces with a jarring lunge. His whole body
In the sixth chapter, Jack writes, "A thoughtless whim seized Thornton, and he drew the attention of Hans and Pete to the experiment he had in mind. "Jump, Buck!" he commanded, sweeping his arm out and over the chasm. The next instant he was grappling with Buck on the extreme edge, while Hans and Pete were dragging them back into safety.” As you can see, Buck has so much love and loyalty towards Thornton, that he didn’t hesitate to jump in the water to save Thornton. Although this specific example wasn’t Thornton tricking Buck, It does show how dangerous loyalty to the wrong person could be.

Loyalty is a very powerful bond. It can keep do many different things, from keeping your “call of the wild” at bay, to making you do something no matter the consequences. Although loyalty is very powerful, it is also very hard to get. Loyalty is a main theme throughout this book, and Jack London does an excellent job of explaining and showing all the pros and cons of