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Hunter Rhine
Aughenbaugh
Honors English 12
23 December 2015
Survival of the Fittest
Darwinism is the theory of evolution that makes claims such as the idea of new species
being perpetuated by natural selection in which an animal or any living creature has to abide by;
being existent on the basis of survival of the fittest. Jack London, who was deeply influenced by
Darwins theory of evolution, wrote the book, The Call of the Wild, as a product of this idea. The
Call of the Wild follows the story of a dog whose name is Buck, Buck illustrates Darwins
theory in his personal evolution from docile domesticated self into alpha wolf throughout his
journey in the Klondike.
Jack London was born in San Francisco, California, on January 12, 1876. He and his
family were very poor especially when he was younger. He did not necessarily have the best
home life as a child either; his parents were divorced and his father was suicidal. As a teenager,
all of the money that he earned was spent on novels because of his passion for reading. He
completed grammar school in Oakland, California, at the age of fifteen. This lead him to live as a
petty criminal. He engaged in oyster piracy as a teenager; ironically, after he spent some time as
a criminal he joined the fish patrol which made him travel (Feast, 1519).
Londons writing career was that of early success. He wrote many books throughout his
career. He immersed himself in the readings of Darwin, Marx, Nietzsche, Spencer because he
had joined the socialist party while in college. His writings were deeply influenced by
Darwinism and Socialism. He had a primordial vision, which was noticeable in most of his
writings as he also had romanticized autobiographical experiences in most of his works. One of
his most famous pieces was The Call of the Wild. This book brought him most of his fortune and
fame, and, because it was one of his earlier books (Feast, 1522).
Biographical information on London having to do with The Call of the Wild is kind of
thin but as stated before he had a very deep interest in Darwinism which is the theory of
evolution. The whole book was based off Darwinism and literary naturalism meaning that The
Call of the Wild was his epitome of expressing his Darwinist ideals. When London went to the
Klondike, it actually ended up providing him the missing key to create The Call of the Wild
(Benson).
Traveling to the Klondike also provided him with the knowledge behind sled dogs in
which he creates the main character of the story, Buck, a domestic dog. He was living his life in
California until he was stolen from his owner, a judge, and is born into essentially dog slavery.
Which means he has to pull a heavy sled with cargo over miles and miles of frozen ice with
barely anything to eat and being beaten frequently. Buck begins to dream about the primitive
days of dogs and humans, all before cultural influence and domestication. Buck becomes
involved in a struggle for power with another dog, Spitz. This leads them to fight; Buck kills him
and takes over as the leader of the sled dog team. The team changes the mushers with new
mushers that are extremely new to the mushing scene and are very incompetent. The new
mushers end up killing the entire team including themselves just after Buck escapes from their
grasp (UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History).
Luckily though, Buck is saved by a man by the name of John Thornton, right before the
team meets their end in an icy river. Buck then becomes attached to Thornton and even saves his

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life several times. Buck goes off on a journey with John and few other men while he fights the
temptation to either stay with Thornton and be civilized or become a wild animal. In retaliation
Thornton is killed by the Yeehat tribe; Buck kills them all. Buck meets a timber wolf in which is
welcomed into the pack and becomes the alpha of the pack (London, 230).
Darwin argued that biological laws affect all living beings. Population growth takes place
within limited resources. This leads to a struggle for survival, with particular physical and mental
capacities giving advantages to some individuals and not to others. These traits are selected for,
reproduced, and inherited, resulting in new species emerging and others being eliminated (Feast,
1519).
The brilliance in this theory was that Darwin could see beyond the appearance of
something, and understand the mercilessness of nature, kill or be killed, and how nature kills off
everything but the most powerful organisms, which in turn creates a sort of illusion that some
master intellect, in a sense, designed the world (Feast,1525). Darwins theory was a heartless
process in which nature eliminates the weak. The world was just another thing that had no care to
whether an organism lived or died. Worst of all, there was no plan to guide any organism into
becoming the fittest of survival and the only way to achieve it was to be born into it (Feast,
1521).
The implications that come from Darwinism is like this, the reality is Darwin's theory is
meant to make any organisms life insignificant and asks it to understand and accept it because it,
like all other organisms, are a product of a random process that science has not been able to
prove in any which way, proposing that any living organism was created merely to keep its
species alive and the world in balance (Feast, 1523).
Evolution teaches people that there is no plan to enjoy your life or to become successful
or any of that nonsense; it is strictly saying that they will be born to procreate their species, and
die. As random, undirected, and heartless as it is, it is just how evolution and the world operates,
and as humans that live in a world that cares nothing for them, their minds are just to help them
to survive, and that there is no way there is anything spiritual or law defying guiding any person
through their life. This explains some of the theories behind atheism and it backs it up in full
because if there is no one guiding them, then that means they are just living a life that was given
to them by chance and that once they die, their minds and soul are gone from the world never to
be experienced again (Feast, 1522).
The Call of the Wild is based upon darwinist ideals, and is a very prevailing theme
throughout the book. Since the book takes place in Alaska, it has the perfect setting for the
survival of the fittest concept. The nature of survival in Alaska is extremely difficult and
intense (UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History). The Klondike for one, is probably one of the most
dangerous places on the planet if one was to be out stranded in the middle of winter. The
Klondike is filled with dangerous weather such as temperatures dropping to negative fifty
degrees. It has predatory animals such as bears and timber wolves throughout the area. Even
moose are considered predatory animals because of how territorial they are; if they are in their
mating season they are extremely dangerous because they have essentially have the stopping
power of a semi with very large antlers. The Klondike is filled with organisms who have evolved
into being the fittest of their species to survive against the climate, each other, and especially
themselves (American Decades).
In a place such as this, one has to drop all morals and values and focus on survival as the
number one priority. One has to be able to disregard other animals and either kill or be killed just

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like Buck did throughout The Call of the Wild. Just like Buck, they have to become a savage,
someone that has lost everything but the capability to survive without hesitation for the wellbeing of anything but themselves.
Bucks evolution throughout the story is quite impressive considering he started out as a
normal household pet. His life was handed to him essentially on a silver platter. He had food,
water, shelter, even love from his owner. His life was perfect, he did not have to worry about
survival because being a domesticated animal in a good home is essentially a retirement home
(London, 10).
Buck starts on his journey when he is kidnapped from his home. He has to suffer through
beatings from his so called owners and he also has to go on for days without food because of
his owners incompetency to feed him and the other dogs (London, 187). Bucks rise to power is
when he really starts to become the wild animal that he needs to be able to survive. His fitness
and intelligence is also a strong point in whether or not he would be able to get the top of the
food chain or not. His experience as a sled dog and as a dog in the wilderness grants him very
beneficial needs to his survival. He even kills off the top dog and takes his place within the story
(London, 158).
At the end, Buck, finally becomes what he has been striving to be ever since he entered
the Klondike. He becomes alpha male of the sled dog team, but it is short lived due to the fact
that the team is killed due to lack of experience. He finds his home with a man named John. John
takes cares of him and brings Buck back to his domesticated self until his friend, John, is killed
by the Yeehat tribe. Bucks instincts and capability to survive override him and he kills the
Yeehat tribe in vengeance. He is met by a timber wolf in the very end and becomes part of the
pack only to be entitled as the alpha wolf of the wolf pack (London, 230).
Bucks endeavors throughout the entire story have quite the impact on his life and his
survival. He is stolen, but he survives through bravery and determination. He becomes a sled dog
which is as good as saying he is a slave to humans. He endures that by determination and
fearlessness. He endures battles with wild animals and even climbing the ladder of the food chain
by accepting the primitive and ancestral instincts to become something he never thought he could
become. Darwinism provided evolutionary instincts and ideas into Bucks mind and that is why
he became what he became. That is why he survived (London, 227).
Buck throughout the entire story is the Londons beacon of Darwinism. London used
Buck as the biggest symbolic form of Darwinism throughout the entire book. Buck has to
survive; he has to accept his ancestral instincts into his mind and use them to his advantage. He
has to work and fight his way through the harsh reality of his now new life which in turn takes
him to be something more than he ever thought he could be, wild. Darwinism has never been
more prevalent and noticeable throughout an entire story like The Call of the Wild. The Call of
the Wild really puts Darwinism in perspective to the reader and gives them the opportunity to
understand how Darwinism was such an influential theme throughout the entire story. It really
puts in an understandable manner how Buck turns himself from a docile domesticated dog into a
cold hearted, savage, alpha wolf in the middle of the Klondike.
Works Cited
Baldassarro, Wolf R. Banned Books Awareness: The Call of the Wild. Banned Books
Awareness. world.edu, 2011. Web. 06 Dec 2015.

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Benson, Sonia. The Call of the Wild. UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History. Vol. 2.
Detroit: UXL, 2009. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 06 Dec 2015.
Feast, James. Jack London. Magills Survey of American Literature. Ed. Steven Kellman.
Vol. 4. Hackensack: Salem Press Inc., 2007. 1519-1527. Print.
Jack London. American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Biography in
Context. Web. 07 Dec 2015.
London, Jack. The Call of the Wild. New York: Macmillan, 1963. Print.
Stasz, Clarice. The Jack London Online Collection. The Jack London Online Collection.
Sonoma State University Library, 2015. Web. 03 Dec 2015.
The Call of the Wild. Novels for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 8. New York:
Gale Group, 2000. 42-58. Print.
The Call of the Wild. Sparknotes. Web. 16 Dec. 2015.
Wilcox, J Earl. "Jack London's Naturalism: The Example of The Call of the Wild." Jack
London's Naturalism: The Example of The Call of the Wild. 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.