Call of the Wild Chapter 4 Review

Observations Will you have to reread the chapter? Did you look for potential test questions? Add the colored ICONS. NAÏVETE is the NOUN; NAÏVE is the adjective. Use LOGIC when placing information in columns—you are reading a fictional text that is organized chronologically—take notes first; add the heading afterward. Then make any other special columns. Do not AVOID difficult passages—remember to still take notes and then FLAG that section to ask the teacher. So, who or what is the HAIRY MAN? Observations

The next morning, Buck trots up to the lead position Francois brings in Sol-leks; Buck springs upon him Buck responds to the club, remembering the man in the red sweater Buck had become wise in the way of clubs, circling and snarling out of the club’s range Buck is in “open revolt”—he had earned leadership Perrault and Francois throw down their clubs and acknowledge that they are beaten. Buck trots up, laughing triumphantly, as lead dog Buck Wants the Lead

Buck Excels as Leader Francois had undervalued Buck’s skills Buck uses “judgment, quick thinking and quick acting” He is SUPERIOR to even Spitz Buck EXCELS at “giving the law and making his mates live up to it” Licks sled team into shape Is able to punish Pike to stop loafing and pull harder Punishes Joe—something Spitz could not do—by smothering him with his weight The general tone of the team picks up TEEK and KOONA added; Buck breaks them in quickly Buck Excels as Leader

Record and New Owners Make a record run (14 days at 40 miles/day). Perrault and Francois are congratulated in Skagway and men admire their sled team (until the next “attention-getter” happens and eyes turn to it—15 minutes of fame) Then they receive new orders from the Canadian government, forcing them to sell the sled team Francois hugs Buck and weeps over him They pass out of his life for good. Record and New Owners

Working the Mail Train Scotch half-breed (a MAN) buys the team Now works the MAIL TRAIN with a dozen dog teams—heavy toil each day, slow-going, mounded sleds of mail Buck does NOT like the work, but he still takes pride in it Monotonous life, machine-like regularity; one day like another; being fed is the one “feature” of the day 100 dogs in the train; Buck challenges three of them for supremacy Working the Mail Train

Buck’s Dreams Buck loves to sleep by the fire SOMETIMES thinks of: Judge Miller’s house, swimming tank, Ysabel, Toots OFTENER, he remembers: Man in the red sweater, Curly’s death, fight with Spitz, things to eat Buck is NOT homesick MOST POTENT MEMORY: the memories of his heredity that gave things a seeming familiarity—the instincts of his ancestors In man, this is called GENETIC MEMORY Buck’s Dreams

The Hairy Man This man is MAN’S ANCESTORS (caveman) Sometimes he watches the cook and dozes off He sees a man shorter of leg and longer of arm, with stringy and knotty muscles, matted hair, head slanted back; the man utters strange sounds, clutches a stick with a heavy stone, wears fire-scorched skins, is very hairy; does not stand erect; was catlike This man is MAN’S ANCESTORS (caveman) The man lived in perpetual fear of things seen and unseen Around the man’s fire could be seen “eyes” like lit coals, two-by-two (beasts of prey) Buck’s hair rises on his back and he whimpers until the cook wakes him up The Hairy Man

The sled dogs are in poor condition and need rest, but two days after pulling into Dawson, they pull out again. They had traveled 1800 miles since the beginning of winter Buck is tired, but still does his job Billee cries, Joe is sourer than usual; Sol-leks is unapproachable on either side Back on the Trail

Dave suffers most of all, becomes irritable, cries out in the traces, falls repeatedly Men could not find anything wrong Scotch half-breed brings in Sol-leks as wheeler The PRIDE of trace and trail is his—even sick, he cannot bear that another dog should do his work Dave flounders in the unpacked snow alongside Sol-leks howling lugubriously. The men decide to put Dave back in the traces—if he is to die, let him die happy. When Dave falls the last time, the team leaves him behind; the Scotch half-breed goes back and shoots Dave All the dogs hear it and know what happens. Poor Dave