The Call of the Wild 715Erik’s father, unjustly accuses Carol of seductively
luring Erik away from life on the farm: “Women like
you—you’re worse dan street-walkers! Rich women
like you, wit’ fine husbands and no decent work
to do—and me . . look how I work, look at those
hands! But you, oh God no, you mustn’t work, you’re
too fine to do decent work.”
Main Street depicts class tension, animosity, and
even class hatred. We should remind ourselves that
Main Street is Sinclair Lewis’s depiction not merely
of a single small town, but of all American towns, and
so of America itself. And thus the ultimate questions
about the text are these: Is Main Street an accurate
historical depiction of the way America was in the
early 1900s? To this, the answer is Yes. Is Main Street
also a predictive depiction of America as it is now?
The answer to this is one the reader must decide.
Gerard M. Sweeney
LonDon, jaCk The Call of the Wild
(1903)
The Call of the Wild is the story of a dog’s trans-
formation from domesticated creature into wild
animal. Raised on a California estate, Buck loses his
freedom when a gardener’s helper captures him and
sells him to Klondike gold hunters. The kidnapping
throws Buck into basic training as a sled dog, where
he has to learn how to deal not only with humans
and their cruel, punishing ways, but also with an
awakening sense of his innate natural instincts as a
wolf descendant.
The novel explores themes of freedom and
nature and their impact on identity. Buck’s loss of
freedom inspires a fast learning curve during his
forced tutelage in the Klondike, if only so he can
survive. Nature demands efficiency and requires a
way of being that is devoid of morality. These exter-
nal influences set Buck on a breathtaking pace and
conflicted path to recover who he is. Indeed, Buck’s
identity struggles come from the very fact that he
was forceably removed from his California estate—
he did not seek out the wilderness—where he would
never have heeded any “call,” no matter how innate
his ancient wild identity. Because his freedom was
taken from him, Buck never has control over his
life—he can only adapt. Raw nature triumphantly
wins out, for Buck chooses to return to the wild. His
natural and domesticated identities are reconciled, in
that he transforms into a near-mythical superwolf,
embodying the best of both his former dog self and
his more recent wild self.
Lori VermaasFreedom in The Call of the Wild
For the first four years of his life, Buck enjoys a
comfortable existence in a prosperous home, one
where his master grants him the freedom to roam
around the grounds at his pleasure. Unlike the other
dogs, he is “neither house-dog nor kennel-dog. The
whole realm is his” and “he stalked [it] imperiously,”
like a “country gentlem[a]n.” However, one day a
gardener’s helper, Manuel, kidnaps Buck in a gam-
bling scheme that eventually leads to his relocation
in Alaska. He puts a rope around Buck’s neck, an
act signifying his enslavement. Buck has enjoyed so
much freedom, however, that he does not under-
stand the meaning of a rope, and initially accepts
it “with quiet dignity.” Soon after, he realizes its
oppressive power, particularly when the rope is given
to a stranger, who ignores Buck’s growling protest,
or “command” of “displeasure,” by “tighten[ing]” the
rope even more.
So begins Buck’s loss of freedom and his subju-
gation to a system of power relations between man
and dog out in the wild where men—especially
those who carry tools—are masters and dogs are
their slaves. Indeed, various tools regulate the sys-
tem, including restraints like the rope and a cage. For
the next two days Buck endures caged train travel,
wherein he snarls and throws himself against the
cage while human guards make fun of him and act
like animals themselves, “growl[ing] and bark[ing]
like detestable dogs.” After the two-day trip, when a
man in a red sweater frees Buck from the cage, Buck
tries to attack him. But the man deftly beats him
with a club at each charge, effectively training Buck
not to attack men who carry these particular tools.
Having “never been struck by a club in his life,” Buck
“did not understand” the training regimen at first,
but after going a couple of rounds, he learns the les-
son. When Buck’s bloodied body finally acquiesces,