The Call Of The Wild

The boat lands at Dyea, Alaska, and already this next day brings another lesson to Buck, who is still dazed at how much his life has changed in such a short period of time. He begins to realize the enormity of what has happened, "Here was neither peace, nor rest, nor a moment's safety. All was confusion and action, and every moment life and limb were in peril. There was imperative need to be constantly alert; for these dogs and men were not town dogs and men. They were savages, all of them, who knew no law but the law of club and fang" Chapter 2, pg. 18. Rather than respecting each other, these dogs know only to defend themselves against each other by violence, or to feel the beat of a human's club or whip when they do not behave properly. These dogs are tamed by feeling violence, and if they were too weak to survive these incidents, then they were killed. The sled dogs are resting outside in the snow after waking up, and a violent incident occurs.

Buck watches one day as Curly playfully approached one of the other sled dogs, a large husky, and in reaction the dog lashes out violently with its teeth, ripping open Curly's skull. The other dogs fly in for the kill, surrounding the poor dog in a whirlwind of teeth and claws, craving blood and death. Buck stares on in horror as it takes far too long for Perrault and Francois to get into the middle of the mix and beat these dogs away, revealing Curly's torn and bloody carcass gleaming against the white snow. Spitz merely watches this incident occur from afar and appears to be laughing for some reason, letting his tongue hang out in a mocking manner, causing Buck to feel the utmost hatred towards him from that point on. Buck is disgusted that Curly was just trying to be friendly and she was attacked for this, whereas Spitz seems to find the whole situation to be funny. Spitz is a much more experienced sled dog than Buck, so perhaps he is more accustomed to seeing these types