Writing an Analysis of Literary Themes

Question 2 • *NBHS FL-1001070-M/J Language Arts 3 A

What evidence from part 1 of The Call of the Wild best supports the viewpoint that Buck must constantly learn new lessons if he wishes to survive in his new life?

Answer

And this was the manner of dog Buck was in the fall of 1897, when the Klondike strike dragged men from all the world into the frozen North. But Buck did not read the newspapers, and he did not know that Manuel, one of the gardener's helpers, was an undesirable acquaintance.

Buck had accepted the rope with quiet dignity. To be sure, it was an unwonted performance: but he had learned to trust in men he knew, and to give them credit for a wisdom that outreached his own. But when the ends of the rope were placed in the stranger's hands, he growled menacingly.

And Buck was truly a red-eyed devil, as he drew himself together for the spring, hair bristling, mouth foaming, a mad glitter in his blood-shot eyes. Straight at the man he launched his one hundred and forty pounds of fury, surcharged with the pent passion of two days and nights.

The scene often came back to Buck to trouble him in his sleep. So that was the way. No fair play. Once down, that was the end of you. Well, he would see to it that he never went down.

Explanation

Choice D shows Buck learning a rule of survival from what he has experienced: there is “no fair play,” and being knocked down can mean defeat. He decides to avoid going down again, showing that he must adapt his behavior to survive in his new life. The other choices describe his earlier situation or his anger, but do not state this lesson as clearly.

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