transgressions of the call of the wild book
"The Call of the Wild" is a novel by Jack London that was first published in 1903. It is the story of Buck, a domesticated dog who is stolen from his home in Santa Clara Valley, California, and sold to freight haulers in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush. Over the course of the story, Buck is forced to adapt to the brutal conditions of the far north and returns to his ancestral instincts in order to survive.
When you refer to transgressions in the context of "The Call of the Wild," you could be referring to multiple aspects: the moral and ethical transgressions by the characters within the book, the violations or challenges to societal norms represented in the book, or perhaps deviations from the law or acceptable behavior.
Here are a few examples of the types of transgressions that could be interpreted in "The Call of the Wild":
1. **Human Cruelty and Abuse**: Throughout the book, Buck and other dogs suffer at the hands of different owners. Buck is beaten and forced to become a sled dog. The treatment of the sled dogs in the story can be seen as a transgression of animal rights and humanity.
2. **Betrayal of Trust**: Buck is betrayed by the gardener of his original owner, Judge Miller, illustrating a transgression of loyalty and trust inherent in that betrayal.
3. **Law of Club and Fang**: The book portrays the harsh law of survival in the wild, sometimes called the "Law of Club and Fang," which is a stark transgression from the civilized society that Buck originally came from. This natural law does not punish acts that would be considered immoral or criminal among humans, such as killing for survival.
4. **Darwinian Struggle and Survival of the Fittest**: Buck's journey can be seen as a series of transgressions from the comfortable life of a domesticated pet to a feral state where only the fittest survive. Buck must assert dominance and fight to become the leader of the sled dog pack.
5. **Manifest Destiny and Territorial Expansion**: The Gold Rush era itself represented a transgression against the land and the indigenous populations. There is an undercurrent of human ambition and conquest in the narrative that reflects this broader historical context.
6. **Return to Nature**: Buck ultimately transgresses the boundaries between domesticated life and wild existence, fully embracing his ancestral calling as he joins a wolf pack. This transgression might be seen as a return to a natural state from the perspective of imposed human domesticity.
"The Call of the Wild" explores these themes of transgression, adaptation, and return to instinctual behavior through the lens of a dog's experiences, but it also offers commentary on human behavior and society's values.