White Fang
by Jack London
Table of Contents
White Fang
White Fang was born as a Grey wolf cub, and when he is born, the reader believes him to be all wolf. However, his mother, the she-wolf, is not actually all wolf. She is a wolf-dog hybrid, and she is not a wild dog, either. The early parts of the novel emphasize the wolf aspects of White Fang; his physical appearance, which is very wolf-like, is emphasized, along with the fact that he is able to survive when his more dog-like siblings cannot. However, when the she-wolf travels close to an Indian village, a man calls her name, Kiche. She goes to join the humans; and White Fang goes with her, and there he gets his name. Grey Beaver sells Kiche to another man, and White Fang attempts to leave with his mother. When he tries to follow her, Grey Beaver beats him. However, Grey Beaver is not a sadist; when White Fang obeys him, he treats him fairly. White Fang comes to look upon him as a god-like figure, even referring to him as God. They share a mutual respect, but no real affection.
White Fang quickly learns about the role that the master plays in a dog’s life when Grey Beaver sells White Fang to Beauty Smith. Beauty had been watching White Fang as he developed into a vicious fighting dog, and now sees an opportunity to make money off of him. When Grey Beaver begins to suffer from alcoholism, Beauty takes advantage of that weakness and jumps at the opportunity to get White Fang. Beauty beats and torments White Fang, not only because he is a sadistic man, but also to illicit more savage behavior from White Fang in order to increase his earnings from the dog. He manages to do so, and White Fang is a consistent winner in his dog fights, until a fight with a bulldog named Cherokee, who almost kills him. When Beauty Smith sees that White Fang has lost the fight and is dying, instead of trying to help his dog, he jumps up and begins to kick him. Weedon Scott intervenes, saving White Fang’s life and earning the dog’s loyalty. Scott buys him from Beauty Smith for $150 and becomes his new master.
White Fang does not show immediate loyalty to Weedon Scott. He...
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