I don’t really remember reading this classic in middle school, but I’m sure it was required reading - that said, the re-reading (or listening, in this case), of Buck’s coping with a life altering situation, conjures up many more feelings now - than reading the “story of a dog” as a child.
Jack London’s book is definitely more than just a child’s story about a dog - it could very well be the story of “our” own struggle to make our way through life and cope with the many events that thrust lifestyle changes upon us.
Buck was forced into his lifestyle change from the comforts of his “home and hearth” into the cruel law of “club and fang” but eventually, through never giving up, he finds peace. Buck learned and adapted quickly, he fought to become a leader, he protected himself, he protected those in need of protection and he saved those in need of being saved - along the path he awakened his primal collective memory of survival.
Sound familiar in any way? Do we, as humans, not have the same type of struggle to maintain our “home and hearth” ... actually stopping short of the law of “club and fang” - hopefully! We too learn and adapt, protect ourselves and our loved ones and do a little saving along the way. As far as our human collective memory goes - don’t we all have the desire to be truly free and don’t we wish we could answer the Call of the Wild?
