The Call of the Wild Jack London

The Call of the Wild: Introduction In a harsh and hostile environment like the Yukon Territory, survival is the ultimate challenge.

The Call of the Wild: Introduction If strength, courage, and adaptability are the keys to survival, then our hero, Buck, stands a pretty good chance.

The Call of the Wild: Introduction When Buck is stolen from his comfortable home in California and sold as a sled dog, he ends up working in the bitter cold of Alaska and Canada.

The Call of the Wild: Introduction It’s not just the climate that’s changed. The rules seem to be different, too.

The Call of the Wild: Introduction In this new environment, Buck has to change the way he sleeps eats relates to humans interacts with other dogs

The Call of the Wild: Introduction Buck is smart, tough, and alert. He learns quickly how to survive as a sled dog. He even challenges Spitz, the lead dog.

The Call of the Wild: Introduction No sooner has Buck adapted, though, than things begin to change again. New owners, heavier loads, dangerously thin ice— none of these changes will make life any easier for Buck. Or will they?

The Call of the Wild: Background In August 1896, gold—and lots of it—was discovered in Rabbit Creek in the Yukon Territory of western Canada.

The Call of the Wild: Background When news of the find reached the United States, the Klondike gold rush was on. 1897 - Gold fever hits along the west coast of Canada/Alaska (not a state until the 1950’s) Klondike – Canadian/American strike Depression days – hard to find work – 10 cent an hour is good pay Gold sells for $17 an ounce – FREE, if you can find it. Supplies were hard to get Wilderness offered death from starvation and exposure Had to have at least one year’s worth of supplies to get in to the Klondike – patrolled by the Canadian Mounted Police 40,000 prospectors ventured into the Klondike Big, Powerful dogs were in high demand to pull sleds Many were stolen from Western States and sold in the North (enter our hero)

The Call of the Wild: Background The gold prospectors, known as “Klondikers,” faced harsh conditions: temperatures 20 degrees below zero starvation and malnutrition long journeys on foot About 100,000 people started out in hopes of reaching the Klondike River and finding gold. Of these, only about 30,000 completed the trip. The rest either stopped somewhere along the way, turned around, or died. Very few found their fortune, because locals had already taken most of the good claims. hundreds of pounds of supplies to transport

The Call of the Wild: Background The indigenous people of Alaska and Canada began using sled dogs more than 1,000 years ago. They depended on these dogs for protection transportation hunting companionship

The Call of the Wild: Background In the late 1800s, settlers and explorers started using the dogs to help them explore remote areas, deliver mail, and look for gold.

The Call of the Wild: Background Certain purebred dogs are commonly used as sled dogs. Siberian huskies Alaskan malamutes Samoyeds

The Call of the Wild: Background Huskies, malamutes, and Samoyeds have a protective outercoat and an insulating undercoat, that helps them tolerate temperatures as low as –70° F.

The Call of the Wild: Discussion Starters The Call of the Wild is an unusual book because it is told from the point of view of a dog. How do you think dogs view the world? How does a dog’s perspective differ from a human’s? In what ways are the perspectives similar?

The Call of the Wild: Discussion Starters As Buck’s primitive, animal nature becomes stronger, he feels a longing to live as a wild animal instead of as a domesticated one. Do humans, like dogs, sometimes hear “the call of the wild”? What do you do when you feel the need to get closer to nature?